To the man that waited on me
At the Starbucks down on Main
I hope you understand
When I put on that t shirt
The only thing I meant to say
Is I'm a Skynyrd fan
The red flag on my chest
somehow is
Like the elephant in the
corner of the south
And I just walked him right
in the room
Just a proud rebel son with
an 'ol can of worms
Lookin' like
I got a lot to learn
But from my point of view
I'm just a white man comin'
to you from the southland
Tryin' to understand what
it's like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from
but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me
can re write history
Our generation didn't start
this nation
We're still pickin' up the
pieces walkin' on eggshells
fightin' over yesterday
And caught between southern
pride and southern blame
They called it Reconstruction
fixed the buildings dried
some tears
We're still siftin' through the
rubble after a hundred fifty years
I try to put myself in your
shoes and that's a good
place to begin
But it ain't like I can walk
a mile in someone else's skin
Cause I'm a white man livin' in
the southland
Just like you I'm more than
what you see
I'm proud of where I'm from
but not everything we've done
And it ain't like you and me
can re write history
Our generation didn't start
this nation
And we're still paying for the
mistakes
That a bunch of folks made
long before we came
And caught somewhere
between southern pride and
southern blame
Dear Mr White Man I wish
you understood
What the world is really like
when you're livin' in the hood
Just because my pants are
saggin' doesn't mean I'm up
to no good
You should try to get to know
me I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold
but I'm still misunderstood
I wasn't there when Sherman's
March turned the south into
firewood
I want you to get paid but be
a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django
dodgin' invisible white hoods
So when I see that white
cowboy hat I'm thinkin' it's
not all good
I guess we're both guilty
of judgin' the cover not
the book
I'd love to buy you a beer
conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and
I think you wish I wasn't here
I'm just a white man
Comin' to you from the southland
Tryin' to understand what it's
like not to be
I'm proud of where I'm from
But not everything we've done
It ain't like you and me can
re write history
Can't re write history baby
Oh Dixieland
The relationship between the
Mason Dixon needs some fixin'
I hope you understand what this
is all about
Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee
but I've been thinkin' about
this lately
I'm a son of the new south
The past is the past you feel me
And I just want to make
things right
Let bygones be bygones
Where all that's left is
southern pride
RIP Robert E Lee but I've
gotta thank Abraham Lincoln
for freeing me know what I mean
It's real it's real
It's truth