Sheltered

We stood hand over heart as the flag was unfurled We were sheltered from the real world All men are created equal is what they did teach Never realizing, they don’t practice what they preach Who said poor? We were rich beyond our dreams Working to make ends meet, endlessly, it seems There were Italians and Jews, Lithuanians and Greeks Puerto Ricans and Poles, Germans and Dutch No matter what your nationality or color was We were neighbors. So, it didn’t matter much I have memories of neighbors walking in our front door Nobody knocking, just dropping in I have memories of children playing on the parlor floor Nobody judging the color of skin Our riches were neighbors. Affluence carried no weight We were sheltered from bigotry, sheltered from hate God bless the children who knew neither hatred nor fear God damn the people who brought those things here When there is acceptance beyond what the eyes see Then perhaps we can call this the land of the free When there is truly no master and truly no slave Then perhaps we can call this the home of the brave We need to see the unity we’ve not had in the past If we continue to hate, our country can’t last If the American people can stand side by side Then we can restore our American pride When we stand together, again we’ll be strong And we can be sheltered from all that was wrong