Property Value

Shackled to my brethren
18th century, the cursed voyage
across my ocean of discontent
languishing in filth against my will
trembling and feverish on the auction block
sold and traded like so much cattle
whipped into domestication
subservience, through subjugation
to tend the fields, to work the land
to rape my sisters at your command
prepare the meals on which you dine
primary caretaker of your children
these hated hands that built your country
that keep you in the lap of luxury
gazed upon with angry eyes
these minds now plot your inevitable demise

200 years gone by
we continue to uprise
now through subtle occurrences
the predator resurfaces

welcome to the new bigotry
no!

new family moves to the affluent suburb
8 shades darker than the rest
hushed whispers soon become rumors
an oversight, now put to the test

uneasiness sets in
neighbors petitioned
to rid the community of this menace
a threat, against which, they have few defenses

the streets aren't as safe as they once were
and isn't violence in their nature?
no longer a matter of integration
but real estate depreciation
the slave master's wealth once measured
by the numerous slaves that he owned
his descendants now fear for their welfare
when we settle too close to their homes

Consider the irony!

3 decades after the so-called civil rights movement
and we still can't be civil to each other