if i`m not mistaken i once read,
durin` that short spell i spent in school,
where ev`ry slave set free was s`posed to get,
for slavin`,
forty acres and a mule.
now ain`t no tellin` how much work was done
by my ancestors under slaver`s rule,
but sure as hell the total`s got to run
at least,
to forty acres and a mule.
now i`m not sayin` this to see folks sweat,
`cause i`m not bitter,
neither am i cruel,
but ain`t nobody paid for slavery yet;
about my forty acres and a mule...
we had a promise that was taken back,
an` when we hollered it was, `hush, be cool!`
well me, i`m bein` rowdy, hot an` black:
i want my forty acres an` my mule!
don`t tell me not to get myself upset,
don`t look at me like i`m some kinda ghoul,
jus` answer quietly,
when do i get
my goddam forty acres and my mule?
no thanks, i`ll take my own self out to lunch.
no thanks, i`ll dig me my own swimmin` pool,
an` lay an` play aroun` with my own bunch,
if i git forty acres and a mule.
`cause interest gotta go on jus` like rent,
(i may be crazy, but i ain`t no fool.)
one hundred years of debt at ten percent,
per year,
per forty acres,
an` per mule.
now add that up
an` ooooeeee looka there!
no wonder y`all called great grandmaw a jew`l.
jus` pay me that an` call the whole thing square
yes lordy,
forty acres and a mule!
durin` that short spell i spent in school,
where ev`ry slave set free was s`posed to get,
for slavin`,
forty acres and a mule.
now ain`t no tellin` how much work was done
by my ancestors under slaver`s rule,
but sure as hell the total`s got to run
at least,
to forty acres and a mule.
now i`m not sayin` this to see folks sweat,
`cause i`m not bitter,
neither am i cruel,
but ain`t nobody paid for slavery yet;
about my forty acres and a mule...
we had a promise that was taken back,
an` when we hollered it was, `hush, be cool!`
well me, i`m bein` rowdy, hot an` black:
i want my forty acres an` my mule!
don`t tell me not to get myself upset,
don`t look at me like i`m some kinda ghoul,
jus` answer quietly,
when do i get
my goddam forty acres and my mule?
no thanks, i`ll take my own self out to lunch.
no thanks, i`ll dig me my own swimmin` pool,
an` lay an` play aroun` with my own bunch,
if i git forty acres and a mule.
`cause interest gotta go on jus` like rent,
(i may be crazy, but i ain`t no fool.)
one hundred years of debt at ten percent,
per year,
per forty acres,
an` per mule.
now add that up
an` ooooeeee looka there!
no wonder y`all called great grandmaw a jew`l.
jus` pay me that an` call the whole thing square
yes lordy,
forty acres and a mule!
Contributed by Alessandro - 2007/7/6 - 23:37
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Nell'album "Mr. Oscar Brown, Jr. Goes to Washington"
40 acri di terra e un mulo è tutto ciò che venne riconosciuto per legge agli schiavi afro-americani liberati dopo la Guerra Civile (1861–1865). Una ben magra compensazione per tutto ciò che avevano dovuto subire! Per giunta già nel 1865, subito dopo l'assassinio di Lincoln, il provvedimento venne revocato e le terre vennero restituite ai latifondisti bianchi...
Ecco perchè ancora oggi l'espressione viene usata ad indicare il fallimento delle politiche pubbliche in favore della comunità nera americana.
Non a caso "40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks" è il nome della casa di produzione cinematografica del regista Spike Lee.
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