Call Me Mister Smith
Years ago if I became unemployed the people at the unemployment office used to call me Mister Smith. That was good. That was polite. That was civilised.
Then, in more recent years, they invented a thing called "The Work Programme" and so, when I became unemployed again, they sent me to the "Work Programme" and I found that people I had never met before were calling me by my first name - just as if they had known me for years and were related to me or something.
I felt I had been demoted down to a second-class citizen and had my "Mister" ripped away from my name.
The people at the "Work Programme" affected to not understand what was so important about the "Mister".
Here's a poem by Langston Hughes which may help to clarify this:
In Explanation of Our Times
by Langston Hughes
Then, in more recent years, they invented a thing called "The Work Programme" and so, when I became unemployed again, they sent me to the "Work Programme" and I found that people I had never met before were calling me by my first name - just as if they had known me for years and were related to me or something.
I felt I had been demoted down to a second-class citizen and had my "Mister" ripped away from my name.
The people at the "Work Programme" affected to not understand what was so important about the "Mister".
Here's a poem by Langston Hughes which may help to clarify this:
In Explanation of Our Times
by Langston Hughes
You say you thought everybody was called Mister?
No, son, not everybody.
In Dixie, often they won’t call Negroes Mister.
In China before what happened
They had no intention of calling coolies Mister.
Dixie to Singapore, Cape Town to Hong Kong
the Misters won’t call lots of other folks Mister.
They call them, Hey George!
Here, Sallie!
Listen, Coolie!
Hurry up, Boy!
And things like that.
George Sallie Coolie Boy gets tired sometimes.
So all over the world today
So all over the world today
folks with not even Mister in front of their names
are raring up and talking back
to those called Mister.
From Harlem past Hong Kong talking back.
Shut up, says Gerald L.K. Smith.
Shut up, says the Governor of South Carolina.
Shut up, says the Governor of Singapore.
Shut up, says Strydom.
Shut up, says the Governor of South Carolina.
Shut up, says the Governor of Singapore.
Shut up, says Strydom.
Hell no shut up! say the people
with no titles in front of their names.
with no titles in front of their names.
Hell no! It’s time to talk back now!
History says it’s time,
And the radio, too, foggy with propaganda
that says a mouthful
and don’t mean half it says—
but is true anyhow:
LIBERTY!
FREEDOM!
DEMOCRACY!
True anyhow no matter how many
Liars use those words.
The people with no titles in front of their names
hear these words and shout them back
at the Misters, Lords, Generals, Viceroys,
Governors of South Carolina, Gerald L. K. Strydoms.
Shut up, people!
Shut up! Shut up!
Shut up, George!
Shut up, Sallie!
Shut up, Coolie!
Shut up, Indian!
Shut up, Boy!
Shut up! Shut up!
Shut up, George!
Shut up, Sallie!
Shut up, Coolie!
Shut up, Indian!
Shut up, Boy!
George Sallie Coolie Indian Boy
black brown yellow bent down working
earning riches for the whole world
with no title in front of name
just man woman tired says:
So naturally there’s trouble
in these our times
because of people with no titles
in front of their names."
All work of my own placed here is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
0 comments
