I Sometimes Wonder

I sometimes wonder about things that I've read about in the past,

Like if I was a slave how long would I last?

Would I be so strong and be so bold?

After I was beaten and my family sold,

Could you live through being torn away from everything you've known?

Where they literally made you work your fingers to the bone,

Being told your not human because you're not white,

And then hear them rape your women at night,

Branded like livestock, then dragged around by chains of steel,

You couldn't resist or you'd get killed,

How would you feel?

You ever wonder about the Indians,

You know the only true Native Americans,

Being offered friendship, and given guarantees,

Just to find out your whole world is under siege,

Then watch your whole family, purposely, be wiped out by disease,

They would steal everything you own,

Could you watch someone else call your home their home?

What if they separated you from your family and marked you with a stamp,

And then shipped you off to some concentration camp,

Could you live through someone starving your children and torturing your wife,

Could you stand in a line; you knew was going to end your life,

How long could you hold your breath once they turned on that gas,

They didn't care women, children they just laugh,

They would use bayonets to save bullets I was told,

Then let the bodies pile up in the cold,

Something so horrific they called it the holocaust,

How would you deal with people saying it's not true, it's a lie, it's false,

I sometimes wonder about the great Martin Luther King,

His civil right marches and all the beautiful songs he would sing,

Could you march for something knowing it might be your last steps,

Could you say turn the other cheek, realizing it might be your last breath,

During the great depression people had to stand in line just to get bread,

When they ran out, you just weren’t fed,

When was the last time you were hungry going to bed?

Are you listening or just nodding your head?

So often we think we got it bad,

I can guarantee someone had it worst than you had,

If you look up in the sky that's the same blue sky they would see,

The air you breathe is no different than the air they would breathe,

You see that tree someone could have actually hung from that tree,

What I'm trying to say is that these people weren't no different than you and me,

I sometimes wonder 50 years ago what would happen if me and my white wife walked down these street,

Would I stand tall or would I retreat?

Would I get lynched or just get beat,

Or how today's sophisticated woman would cope,

With not having the legal right to vote,

Would you, could you have the strength to climb that slippery slope?

I can only hope?

Really, we complain about the microwave being too slow,

And having too much grass to mow,

Can’t miss that TV show,

Went to the mall yesterday, how much money did you blow,

Do you even know?

We call athlete heroes,

Just a reminder, you reap what you sow!

I read the life expectancy of a Vietnam solider was 16 minutes, 16 minutes,

If someone asked you all to volunteer 16 minutes, how many of you would complain before you finished,

I can see right now by the look on your face,

That some of you are mad, sad, and some surprised that this even took place,

Don't think all this happened in some foreign land,

A lot of this happened right were you stand,

Because, man has got a lot of blood on his hands,

and Yes that includes Uncle Sam,

It is said that history will repeat it self,

It is almost guaranteed if we leave history on the book shelf,

You should at least read Howard Zinn if nothing else,

Damn, don't you watch the news,

People are still slaves to the money and drugs they use,

Women and children are still being abused,

Greed is oppression mother,

People are still using race and religion as a reason to kill one another,

Does the thought of you looking in the mirror make you shutter?

Because there's no one to blame, we just keep pointing the finger at each other,

Can we truly make peace, can we truly become sisters and brothers,

I sometimes wonder about things that I've read about in the past,

Like will it happen again, but with a different cast?

Or can we just finally get it at last,

I sometimes wonder.