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Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, kike me
Don't you black or white me
It's from MJ's track, my favorite one. I understand the meaning that he wants says 'NO' to racism but then are words black and white used as verbs here?
Also,
Everybody do me?
The way I would interpret black-and-white (when used as a verb) would be:
Don't put everything into [two] absolutes when you're talking with me.
Two common idioms are:
It's black-and-white.
It's not black-and-white.
When something is either morally right or morally wrong, it's often said to be black-and-white, meaning that there are no shades of gray. For example, one might argue that stealing is wrong; it's simply not right to take what doesn't belong to you.
Someone else may counter, though, by pointing to the legend of Robin Hood. Though a thief, he was lionized, because he didn't steal for his own gain. Rather, he stole from the rich, and gave to the poor, who were being oppressed by the rich.
Some folks tend to see a lot of things in black-and-white, meaning they leave little wiggle room for "it depends on the circumstances." Others have more of a "shades of grey" worldview, meaning they understand there are exceptions to every rule, and certain situations call for going outside the lines.
NOAD reads:
black and white adj. (of a situation or debate) involving clearly defined opposing principles or issues
In a cry against racism, "Don't you black-and-white me" has a nice dual meaning. On one hand, it says, "Don't judge me simply by the color of my skin." But it also can mean, "Don't be looking at the world like there is never any room for compromise." Those two thoughts feed off each other pretty well.
That said, song lyrics and poetry aren't always easy to decipher; people have been inserting meaning that wasn't every intended into song lyrics for a long time. I believe one of the Beatles once quipped that whenever someone offered some interpretation of one of their songs, they might go along with it if they liked what the person said – even if those ideas were never in their minds when they wrote the lyrics. So there's really no way to know for sure, unless the author happens to be a member of ELL, and wants to chime in.
That said, the dictionary meaning of black and white can be ascertained, so I believe this answer may still be of some use for the English learner, even if I've read too much into the songwriter's work.
Part of the meaning of "don't you black or white me" here is likely something like: "do not make me and my personality, style, behavior or my art the object of categorization by race." In other words "Be more concerned with who I am than with whether I'm black or white, or whether I'm 'trying to be white' or 'trying to be black', or whether any aspect of my personality has to do with conforming to racially motivated expectations." It also likely has the double meaning of "do not make me the object of rigid 'black and white' categorization in general".
The first interpretation is strongly supported by the appearance of Kike in the previous line, and Jew before that. "Kike me" is a play on "kick" in the same line, and is probably a metaphor for name-calling. "Kike me, but don't black or white me" may be something like "go ahead, call me something; it doesn't bother me as long as you're only mouthing off (to be shocking or whatever), and are not adopting the underlying categorization as your actual mode of reasoning (even when you're silent)."
I agree with you. I'm familiar with black and white, and I think it can be used as a verb. (Isn't it amazing that I can say I "google" every day in English?) I think the black or white in the lyric, Don't you black or white me, can be interpreted as either Don't you (black or white) me or (Don't you black me) or (Don't you white me).
As for Everybody do me, it sounds pretty much like the use of do in the title of the movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America to me, thought it should be does. But then again, this is a lyric. (I think I get his sub-text about everybody is not just one person, and do is not just about one single doing.) In this context, I interpret this line as: Everybody [did/does/can do/and might continue to do] all the mentioned nasty things mentioned in the previous lines.
