White Man – Langston Hughes ( 1901 – 1967 )
Poems 1931-1940
Sure I know you!
You're a White Man.
I'm a Negro.
You take all the best jobs
And leave us the garbage cans to empty and
The halls to clean.
You have a good time in a big house at Palm Beach
And rent us the back alleys
And the dirty slums.
You enjoy Rome —
And take Ethiopia.
White Man! White Man!
Let Louis Armstrong play it —
And you copyright it
And make the money.
You're the smart guy, White Man!
You got everything!
But now,
I hear your name ain't really White Man.
I hear it's something
Marx wrote down
Fifty years ago —
That rich people don't like to read.
Is that true, White Man?
Is your name in a book
Called the Communist Manifesto?
Is your name spelled
C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-T?
Are you always a White Man?
Huh?
Poems 1931-1940
Sure I know you!
You're a White Man.
I'm a Negro.
You take all the best jobs
And leave us the garbage cans to empty and
The halls to clean.
You have a good time in a big house at Palm Beach
And rent us the back alleys
And the dirty slums.
You enjoy Rome —
And take Ethiopia.
White Man! White Man!
Let Louis Armstrong play it —
And you copyright it
And make the money.
You're the smart guy, White Man!
You got everything!
But now,
I hear your name ain't really White Man.
I hear it's something
Marx wrote down
Fifty years ago —
That rich people don't like to read.
Is that true, White Man?
Is your name in a book
Called the Communist Manifesto?
Is your name spelled
C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-T?
Are you always a White Man?
Huh?
Contributed by Pluck - 2023/7/13 - 12:09
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White Man by Langston Hughes
Poem read by Mr. Weinberg,.
Gary Public Library - facebook.com