Yeah, it's more of a disconnect than actual racism, hence the question mark and the perhaps-more-accurate "noblesse oblige" tag (which I hope gets activated soon).
This was part of a whole album (Thank You) of covers; the intent of the album was to acknowledge artists that Duran Duran considered influential. Thank you was poorly received by critics, who were especially hard on their cover of Watching the Detectives. The covered artists in general liked the album, most feeling flattered by a comparatively big-name band doing an all-tribute disk. Notably not flattered was Jim Morrison because he was dead.
Not really my favorite Duran Duran album, nor is this my favorite song from it.