What American Dream

By: Tony L. Jefferson, Jr.

Perceptions skewered by preconceptions

Enriched by hatred and racism

Stoked by the powers that divide

Why must we bend to the will of money?

I’m classy but in the wrong class

Apparently I’m only second class

Rich folks won’t even give me a second glance

Tell me I’m over qualified for work that good ole boy is qualified for

Shit we had the same credentials

But I excelled further

But they couldn’t see that while looking at my color

Cause I didn’t have an Armani suit

Cause my watch didn’t bling like Rolex

Cause I came from an area where the crime rises higher than the buildings

Now lying defunct and abandoned

Why hath thou been forsaken?

Reganomics ruined my economics

But that’s not an excuse

Cause at my heart I’m a hustler

Out for my piece of the pie

The American dream is but a myth crafted by Wall Street

With our blank check from China

Off the backs of the poor and middle class

Whom they also call second class

Cause first class get’s the lobster and shrimp

While I’m in the back eating stale pretzels