Louisiana

I am a little boy
In Louisiana in
The late 1940s
And observe the
Prejudice around me.
White folks both men
And women will say to
A passing negro a polite
Sounding but not always sincere,
“Good Mornin’.” thus forcing
A standard reply in response,
“Good mornin’ Sur” or “good
Mornin’ Ma’am.”
This struck me even as
A child to be wrong and
When I saw and later read
The Uncle Remus stories
I recognized who Br’er
Rabbit, Fox, Bear and tar
Baby really were and when
Br’er Rabbit sez to the tar
Baby “Good mornin’”
I knew the story under
The Uncle Remus story
And the silence of the tar
Baby that enraged Br’er
Rabbit to strike the tar baby
For his perceived insolence.
Even the name Uncle Remus
Was a reference to a lesser
Man killed by his brother Romulus
Who founded Rome and led
To the American Republic,
A reminder of race politics
In America and the stain
If inequality attached at
Birth by one to the other.
I saw this as a little boy
In Louisiana and later
When I knew more of
Joel Chandler Harris
Who wrote the Uncle
Remus stories and his
Wife and their hard life,
But I am a Southerner
And these things
Are in my blood
And color each
New thing
For me.