A Letter to the President, Lyric Paper
...ok at them as bad people and refrains from offering them help. In the chorus his lyrics read: “Dear Mr. President, tell me what to do, these niggaz actin up in the hood, send mo’ troops…” This particular part of his song conveys how rough it can get in poorer areas. Instead of trying to provide any help for these families, the police come and arrest those who are causing trouble, leaving their families helpless and having to strive harder. It shows that the government only tries to solve problems by sending troops to wherever there is a problem. The song continues with, “Mr. President, it’s evident, nobody really care, for a struggle out the gutter, twenty two with gray hair.” Tupac is emphasizing on how those who don’t have to struggle don’t care about those who do because they don’t understand how hard it is. By saying “for a struggle out the gutter, twenty two with gray hair,” he’s showing how stressful and difficult it is trying to raise yourself off the streets when that’s what you’ve grown up with. He is also saying that living such a hard life can make a person grow up faster and mature faster than what they should. His lyrics start getting stronger in his fifth stanza. His lyrics read: "Heavenly Father may I holla at you briefly, I wanna meet the President, but will he meet me? He's scared to look inside the eyes of a thug ni**a, We tired of being scapegoats for this capitalistic drug dealin, [...] My histrory, full of casket and scars, My own black nation at war, whole family behind bars, And they wonder why we scared, thirteen lookin hard [...] What the f*ck this ni**ga think? Cuttin taxes, takin off welfare, We sposed to just sit here, go broke and die starvin? We fin' to hustle til we come up." In this stanza he really begins to show alot more emotion on the subject. He reemphasizes on how bad life is on the streets. The president won't help because he's too scared to even look at him. The governement taking away from the little money they do recieve leads them to hustle drugs just so they have money to eat. Most of these people don't have enough money for good schooling and can't get good paying jobs. People can't live off of minimum wages, especailly with a family. When the government pulls back on welfare, it will only in return lead to more crime and cost the government money on jail cost. At the end he goes on to say, "We ain't stupid, Think you got us lookin to lose, You want us to fight your war, What the f**k I'm fightin for, s**t, I aint got no love here, I ain't had a check all year, Taxin all the blacks and police beatin me in the streets, f**k peace." With this he is saying that the presidents war is pointless and it isn't going to help them out any by fighting it. He talks about how the government hasn't done anything to help him and sees no reason in helping the government. Overall the government is being hippocritical in trying to "bring peace", because at the same time they are judgemental to blacks and people of lesser wealth. In conclusion, I agree with...