Who Cares Now?

      "Teacher, teacher, don't whip me!
      Whip that nigger behind that tree!
      He stole money, and I stole honey;
      Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ain't that funny!"

      We sung that little song
      During recess at good old White Oak School:
      The richest little schoolhouse in Texas,
      Where football's number one.

      And the teacher beat me for doing nothing wrong,
      Just to show me that she could.
      And I've never forgotten that lesson!
      Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ain't that funny!

      The school board gave us the best of uniforms;
      But when we wore them out,
      They gave them to the Black kids over at Shiloh.
      Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ain't that funny!

      The teacher was the Scoutmaster
      And took us to Tonkawa;
      Initiated us by running us through the belt-line
      In our bathing suits.

      As the older Scouts stood and beat us with lanyards
      On our bare backs and legs,
      As the Scoutmaster stood and laughed.
      Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ain't that funny!

      I always wondered if the teacher-Scoutmaster
      Stood in line and beat us too.
      Or did he just stand by and watch and laugh?
      But who cares? "Forget it!" they say.

      Wish I could; but it's just hard to forget,
      Even fifty years later.
      But who cared then?
      Who cares now?