There is no radical the Negro’s friend
Who points some other than the classic road
For him to follow, fighting to the end,
Thinking to ease him of one half his load.
What waste of time to cry: “No Segregation!”
When it exists in stark reality,
Both North and South, throughout
this total nation,
The state decreed by white authority.
Must fifteen million blacks be gratified,
That one of them can enter as a guest,
A fine white house-the rest of them denied
A place of decent sojourn and a rest!
Oh, Segregation is not the whole sin,
The Negroes need salvation from within.
(Claude McKay)
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Based on Topics: Time Poems, Place Poems, Cry Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Sin Poems, Guest Poems, Reality PoemsBased on Keywords: gratified, negroes, segregation, house-the