Children's choir alters song over concerns it advocates for violence against white people

A children’s choir has altered a song over concerns that it advocates for violence against white people.

Young Voices, who describe themselves as holding the largest children’s choir events and who perform in front of thousands every year at venues including the O2 Arena, have decided to remove the opening section of Crossroads (A Dawn Raid) from its 2027 programme.

Concerns were raised by teachers that the translated Zulu lyrics referred to black people wielding weapons to reclaim their land from white people.

Schools across the country had already been sent the original lyrics, along with an English translation and rehearsal materials, ahead of next year’s concerts.

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The translated lyrics featured the lines: “The black people are coming. They are coming with weapons, father. They are coming to take their land back from the white people.”

Young Voices confirmed they removed the section after receiving concerns from 19 teachers and have now informed all 4,533 schools taking part next year of the alterations.

The organisation admitted it had made an “oversight” when reviewing the translation ahead of publication.

In an email that was sent to schools, they said “several teachers” had been in contact regarding the section.

They added: “We are sorry for any difficulty or upset this has caused.”

Schools were told that new materials were being prepared that removed the section of lyrics.

Young Voices said it has picked the song in honour of its founder, David Lewis, who died in May.

The song features in the 1987 film Cry Freedom, with the soundtrack being a particular favourite of Mr Lewis.

A parent of one of the children set to learn the piece told The Times: “I understand the song comes from the struggle against apartheid, but I was surprised that primary schoolchildren were being asked to sing words about black people coming with weapons to take land back from white people.

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“Even with the historical context, it did not feel appropriate for children of that age.

“It feels as though the translation was not properly considered before the material was sent out.”

A spokesman for Young Voices said: “Young Voices gives thousands of children every year one of their first opportunities to experience music and singing in large-scale arena concerts around the UK.

“Whilst the primary focus of our programme selection is high-quality music and singing, we also strive to reflect a wide range of genres, subjects and cultures to provide our teachers with the opportunity to choose any themes that might support the wider curriculum.

“We selected the Cry Freedom medley in honour of our founder, David Lewis OBE, who sadly passed away in May this year.

“The soundtrack to the film was a particular favourite, which resonated with David as he was a close friend of the journalist Donald Woods.

“Unfortunately, when we received the translation of the Zulu lyrics, we made an oversight with our review process prior to publication.

“On receiving 19 inquiries from teachers, we took immediate action to remove this small section from the medley.

"We then communicated the change with our 4,533 participating schools, which has been positively received.

“We would like to apologise to our schools for any concern raised by the inclusion of this section and are taking steps to tighten our review process going forward, including increased consultation with our teacher community.”

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