State of Arkansas (My Name is Terry Roberts) - Pete Seeger

My name is Terry Roberts,\nFrom Little Rock I come.\nI went down to the schoolhouse,\nThe place they kept me from.\nI went down to that schoolhouse,\nAnd this is what I saw…\nState troopers with steel helmets\nIn the State of Arkansas.\nI went up to the troopers\nAnd said, «Please let me in.»\nAnd all their guns were pointed\nAt the color of my skin.\nThey kept me from that schoolhouse\nWhere I’d be by law.\nAnd that’s what they call justice\nIn the State of Arkansas.\nNow his name is Orval Faubus,\nThe governor of the state,\nHe sent his army charging down,\nNine kids at the gate.\nThree hundred National Guard were there\nDressed up to fight a war,\nAnd that is why I’m late for school\nIn the State of Arkansas.\nOh listen, Mr. Governor,\nAnd Mr. President, too.\nGive me that constitution\nThat’s what you’ve got to do.\nGive me that constitution\nI ask for nothing more.\nYes, that’s what I want to study\nIn the State of Arkansas.\nI’ve traveled this wide world over,\nSome ups and downs I’ve saw,\nBut I never knew what misery was\nTil I hit old Arkansas.