Redlining (2017)

While some spend lavishly on vacations,

Others are still suffering

Due to the state-sponsored system of segregation,

You preach patience,

But my kind was,

And still is turned away at every station,

Back when the government was bending over backwards

To provide housing to the lighter shade,

You know, those nice suburban communities,

That led to brighter days,

Meanwhile the darker shade (former slaves)

Were pushed into the urban housing,

You know,

The science projects,

I guess we made good pets,

The Federal Housing Administration was established in 1934,

Enriched with policies to keep us poor for sure,  

Of course, they continued the agenda

(Oh-oh, yes, I’m the great pretender) – The Platters

By outright refusing to insure mortgages in,

And near Black neighborhoods,

This tactic was called redlining,

And this is how hatred looks,

Blatant crooks,

They subsidized builders

Who mass produced subdivisions for Caucasians,

With the requirement that none of them

Can be sold to Blacks,

I know right, amazing,

Of course, these policies of housing inequality

Have crushed us for decades,

Oh, curse their wicked ways,

Statements like,

“incompatible racial groups should not be permitted

To live in the same communities,”

Contributed to the sheer lunacy,

They used highways to separate the races,

And we lost countless court cases,

Fast forward to today,

And I’m the one that’s racist for pointing out this history,

But it should be no mystery

That presently in America,

Black incomes on average are about 60 percent of White incomes,

And how there is such an enormous difference

With this next data point,

As Black wealth is about 5 percent of White wealth,

Especially since many a book on the shelf

Illustrates how middle-class families gain their wealth

From the equity in their homes,

Let that resonate in your dome,

You can thank the federal housing policy

For this putrid satire,

Think about things like this,

The next time Los Angeles is set on fire,

You’re welcome,

Because for some,

This crash course was needed,

And if you don’t learn from your history,

You are bound to repeat it…