i need a break

i'm frustrated
angry
worn out
behind
divide them and conquer them
drop a noose on their desk when no one's looking
blue by day white by night
some of my best friends are
bla- i mean african americans
and i just love dave chappelle
and mos def
it's poverty, the economy, stupid
not color
it's not racism
that was centuries ago
it wasn't even me or my parents (you can't prove it)
shoot we were immigrants
escaping our own oppression
at least you have welfare
affirmative action
let me tell you something
about the potato famine
gas ovens
'cause jim crow wasn't shit
and besides it was two or three
generations ago
the race is on even ground
the race card is played
you played it
but it's not real
your blues ain't real
matter fact
your blues ain't yours no more
or your rock n' roll
and hip hop
that's everybody's
'cause certainly it wasn't birthed
from the pains of black labor
through fields
running from whips and sheets
through chain gangs
through nooses
through sit-ins
through burning churches
through the welfare office
through the shotgun shack
to rowhouses and projects
cracked out corners
raggedy schools
crumbling molded jails
certainly it's just sad songs
some cool songs
some black magic we can dig
'cause for real, your sense of this
experience
this supposed oppression
surely you just want to be special
we're just waiting
while you keep killing each other
and fighting amongst yourselves
for you to realize
you are not special
and your special treatment needs to end