The Race Industry Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah

The Race Industry

Rating: 3.3


The coconuts have got the jobs.
The race industry is a growth industry.
We despairing, they careering.
We want more peace they want more police.
The Uncle Toms are getting paid.
The race industry is a growth industry.
We say sisters and brothers don't fear.
They will do anything for the Mayor.
The coconuts have got the jobs.
The race industry is a growth industry.
They're looking for victims and poets to rent.
They represent me without my consent.
The Uncle Toms are getting paid.
The race industry is a growth industry.
In suits they dither in fear of anarchy.
They take our sufferings and earn a salary.
Steal our souls and make their documentaries.
Inform daily on our community.
Without Black suffering they'd have no jobs.
Without our dead they'd have no office.
Without our tears they'd have no drink.
If they stopped sucking we could get justice.
The coconuts are getting paid.
Men, women and Brixton are being betrayed.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Andrew James 29 September 2008

drivel... evidence that english culture is falling into a cesspool of illiterate dunderheads... zephaniah's ouvre is empty headed drivel... he has little to say other than preachy diatribes imparted with trivial insights slapped together for mass consumption and appeal... most children write better poetry than this garbage..

15 44 Reply
Kolawole Ajao 04 June 2010

For Andrew James: Zephaniah writes so that everybody can read, including you and I who went inside the four walls/not of prison but of college and those folks who populate the alleys and ghettos of all the corners. He said his mission is to take poetry everywhere, as it has never been done. You charged him with countering old sins of the West; sorry the guy is mad at your progenitors for the rapes committed against his own. Leave the poor alone, Andrew.

30 7 Reply
Christopher Moore 02 February 2013

I totally agree with this poem...thumbs up

18 5 Reply
Reg Rachel 20 May 2006

Ur poems r gr8! ! 1 day others will realize the true meaning.

13 8 Reply
Olumide Omoyele 02 August 2012

We despairing, they careering. Poignant poem...truth indeed

17 4 Reply
Deluke Muwanigwa 28 March 2021

Sob. And it is these same people who carry bibles and again represent God without His permission. Without Love there is man of cloth.

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 28 March 2021

The great Engksh poet Benjamin has hit the nails on the heads, so very true! Excellent to read and huge pleasure we get. Enormously! I like all his poems very much. Congrats on being chosen as The Modern Ooem Of The Day, hoorray!

0 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 12 December 2020

The coconuts have got the jobs. The race industry is a growth industry. We despairing, they careering. We want more peace they want more police. facts of life. tony

2 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 09 May 2020

The coconuts have got the jobs. The race industry is a growth industry. We despairing, they careering. a great poem on the injustices.. tony

1 0 Reply
Dr Antony Theodore 08 March 2020

Without our dead they'd have no office. Without our tears they'd have no drink. If they stopped sucking we could get justice. The coconuts are getting paid. Men, women and Brixton are being betrayed. The evil of all age. is this race industry....... tony

2 0 Reply
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