Message to the President

Mr. President, kindly please, 
May I have a word with you? 
There's one thing, for a long time, 
I've been wishing you would do. 
In your fireside chats on the radio 
I hear you telling the world 
What you want them to know, 
And your speeches in general 
Sound mighty fine,
But there's one thing, Mr. President, 
That worries my mind.
I hear you talking about freedom
     For the Finn,
     The Jew,
     And the Czechoslovak—
But you never seem to mention 
Us folks who're black!
We're all Americans, Mr. President, 
And I've had enough
Of putting up with this 
Jim Crow stuff.
I want the self-same rights 
Other Americans have today. 
I want to fly a plane
Like any other man may.
I don't like this Jim Crow army 
Or this Jim Crow navy, 
Or the lily-white marines 
Licking up the gravy.
We're one-tenth of the nation, 
Mr. President, fourteen million strong. 
If you help to keep us down,
You're wrong.
We work and pay our taxes. 
Our patriotism's good. 
We try to live like
Decent Americans should.
That's why as citizens, Mr. President, 
We have the right to demand
The next time you make a speech, 
Take an all-out stand
And make your meaning 
Just as clear to me
As you do when talking to 
Those Englishinen across the sea. 
Since, for our land's defense 
If we have to fight—
We ought to be together,
Black and white.
So what I'm asking, Mr. President, 
Is to hear you say
No more segregation in the U.S.A. 
And when you mention the Finns, 
     And the Jew,
     And the Czechoslovak,
Don't forget the fourteen million 
Here who're black.
Such a speech, Mr. President, for me 
Would put a whole lot more meaning 
In Democracy.
So the next time you sit down
To that radio,
Just like you lambast Hitler, 
Give Jim Crow a blow—
For all I'm asking, Mr. President, 
Is to hear you say,
No more segregation in the U.S.A. 
My friends, NO more
Segregation in the U.S.A.