Call Me By My Name

When panthers roamed the delta I drained your swampy land I built your railroads With a hammer in my hand I picked your cotton Cut your sugar cane I’m a man, not your boy You will call me by my name I fought with the Rough Riders On that hill down in Cuba Dug that canal in Panama Nearly died of yellow fever In 1917, Uncle Sam called, I came I’m a man, not your boy You will call me by my name I joined your segregated army To make the world free But back home in Alabama They tried to tar an’ feather me Some say it’s changin’ But the things remain the same I’m a man, not your boy Call me by my name I’m not your coon, not your negro Fact is, I might be your kin My labor made this country And I’m an equal citizen Lord knows, I’m still here Still here to stake my claim I’m a man not your boy You will call me by my name Call me by my name