Race

I’m feelin all alone in a sea of strange faces
Watchin people scurry to the same old places
Every single one has their own routine
And their own group of friends and their own lil’ scene
The funny thing is how I always end up in between
Since I’m not white or black I might as well be green
It seems like everyone always tries to put me in a box
And I don’t fit where they want and so they always seem shocked
But still I refuse to mold into their cookie cutter shapes
So they give up and walk away because they know they can’t relate
So I’m stuck. A stranger in a strange place
And all because they try to tell me that I’m only one race

See here’s the lowdown: I gotta white mom and black dad
And the story of their marriage is really kinda sad
Cuz they married with the dream to make the world a better place
But nowadays they can’t even stand to see each other’s face
It’s ironic, but then again so is our society
My teacher told me I wasn’t white so I told her not to lie to me
But they say that slavery ended over a hundred years ago
So why do I get shady looks from policemen everywhere I go
It’s sad cuz I’m judged for the black race’s reputation
We might preach equality but we’re still a racist nation
That’s why 9 years ago after the September 11th attacks
Muslims were immediately transformed into Reconstruction Era blacks
They were beaten and humiliated and their property was vandalized
And yet the crimes weren’t solved, the guilty criminals weren’t tried

So even though blacks are told “racism is dead” all the time
We still feel the pain of being suspected for every crime
Isn’t that funny, I just lumped myself in with the black race
It’s like a comedy act, but I’m the only one wearing blackface
“Blackface?” all the kids say, with confused looks on
Cuz that’s not the type of stuff the historians write books on
And even after overcoming the prejudice that Martin Luther fought
College campuses are still the only places black history is taught
Aah, college campuses, like that of storied UVA
Back to the scene of my confusion from earlier today
Cuz even though I’m made of equal amounts of black and white
I still get approached by cops when I’m out late at night
And white kids who otherwise wouldn’t even say hello to me
Approach me on the street to ask me if I’m selling greenery

So even though we elected a mixed man as our new president
I still get asked on my own campus if I’m a Charlottesville resident
Or a “townie” as they call them, with disdainful expressions
I’m multiracial but I can’t escape from this overt racial oppression
Today I was going to buy some books at the UVA bookstore
Saw the security guard and thought “what’s he givin me that look for?”
Then the clerk came to see if there was something she could help me find
And neither one of them relaxed ‘til I had left the store behind

So even though my dad left and we live with our white mother
People don’t believe her when she shows pictures of me and my brothers
They can’t be her kids, cuz she’s a nice white lady
And they just can’t picture her having a colored baby
It’s like I live in a paradox that confronts me every day when I wake up
And it’s got me thinkin that this might be time for a societal shakeup
Cuz sometimes I look at life and can’t seem to understand
What the hell is happening or who the hell I am

The solution, it seems, is to erase race altogether
If we were all the same shade then we’d get along better
But for now, since we’re not, I’m navigatin between the shores
And waitin til my race doesn’t matter anymore