I'd Rather Be A Negro Than A Poor White Man

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Title:     I'd Rather Be A Negro Than A Poor White Man
Author: Thomas W. Talley [More Titles by Talley]

My name's Ran, I wuks in de san';
But I'd druther be a Nigger dan a pō' white man.

Gwineter hitch my oxes side by side,
An' take my gal fer a big fine ride.

Gwineter take my gal to de country stō';
Gwineter dress her up in red calico.

You take Kate, an' I'll take Joe.
Den off we'll go to de pahty-o.

Gwineter take my gal to de Hullabaloo,
Whar dere hain't no [16]Crackers in a mile or two.

Interlocution:

(Fiddler) "Oh, Sal! Whar's de milk
strainer cloth?"

(Banjo Picker) "Bill's got it wropped
'round his ole sore leg."

(Fiddler) "Well, take it down to de
gum spring an' give it a cold water
rench; I 'spizes nastness anyway.
I'se got to have a clean
cloth fer de milk."

He don't lak whisky but he jest drinks a can.
Honey! I'd druther be a Nigger dan a pō' white man.

I'd druther be a Nigger, an' plow ole Beck
Dan a white [16]Hill Billy wid his long red neck.

FOOTNOTE
[16] Names applied by Negroes to the poorer class of white people in the South.

[The end]
Thomas W. Talley's poem: I'd Rather Be A Negro Than A Poor White Man

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