"Treat me like I got a gun. All I got is genes and chromosomes. Consider me black to the bone."
When the amount of melanin in your skin is seen as a threat, your very existence is a weapon. The characteristics that determine how rich in melanin you are, your genes, your chromosomes, are representative of fear for those who seek your subjugation, and in some cases, eradication.
This lyric turns several ideas into an indictment of the perception of Blackness. We've often heard things like, "only skin deep," or "we all bleed red." As if the depth of our Blackness is just a few microns. These things are often uttered to sound inclusive, but instead are diminishing. Black to the bone professes that this melanin isn't something superficial. It's a part of us, our distinctiveness, and that culture and spirit travels through the very essence of our existence. Blackness isn't a coating, it's an identity, a state of being, a spirit, and a phenomenon that can't be quantified or nullified by euphemisms or slander.
We are never un-linked from our melanin, and in that regard, the presence of it in many societies is tantamount to a threat. Being Black = being aggressive, dangerous, criminal, lawless, lazy, and often, more importantly, in need of correction. Our people as a whole are perceived to "need to be taught lessons/sent messages" in order to keep us "compliant." This is clearly seen in the propaganda during the Jim Crow era and more potently in the existence of lynch mobs.
The idea of free Black people living their lives without permission from anyone else was such a threat to the idea of white supremacy, regular citizens would willingly band together to burn, hang, shoot, and torture Black people. The sight of melanin-rich skin was the same as brandishing a weapon to many white people. Babies, children, women, and men are considered armed at all times and thus, preemptive measures needed to be taken with as much force as could be brought to bear.
If a single Black person is a shotgun, then 2 or more is a battalion and worthy of every atrocity rendered upon their persons. With this in mind, a lynch mob was probably seen as the only logical response to aggression building in every breath taken while being Black.
I really liked your post it gave me a lot to think about in terms of black Lively hood.
I never thought the quote "only skin deep" and "we all bleed red" was diminishing, however I definitely understand how it can be used to degrade melanin skin. It is so interesting how so many everyday things have hidden messages and agendas behind them.
It is crazy how much envy can created oppression and mistreatment of black people globally. We have seen how much tragedy has happened because whites feel threatened by people who possess melanin. Media has played a role in spreading white fear by paintinf people like Ahmaud Arbery, and Trayvon Martin in a negative light to explain the threat they pose. The sad reality is that we will not move forward as long as we have an American system that encourages racial discrimination, ignorance, and mistreatment.