A School Project I Actually Enjoyed

Why Mr. Grant? Why?

By Josh Watkins

Why Mr. Grant must you not care, 
For a man who is about to die in a vile chair?
Why do you want to flee,
When an innocent boy has not one plea?
Why is your heart so cold,
When a confused soul has no hand to hold?
Why Mr. Grant, why?
Why won’t you stand up for your rights,
When white folk just want your kind rid from their sights?
Why don’t you even shed a tear,
For a boy that won’t live another year? 
Why are you cruel to students you teach,
Just because a better education is out of their reach?
Why Mr. Grant, why?
Why will you not help this disturbed lad,
Who deep down, isn’t all that bad?
Why do you keep all your anger bottled inside,
When you could just let it all out and let it slide?
Why must you act like a white man’s horse,
Chained to a fencepost instead of running free on its course?
Why Mr. Grant, why?
Mr. Grant, open your eyes and your heart,
Follow your dreams; that is a start.
Look that boy into his eyes and tell him he is a man,
No matter what a white man’s plan.
You are strong and have what it takes to do what is right,

And remember to keep God in sight.

I have to give some credit to my 10th grade English teacher for showing me my passion for writing. This was a project (part of it was to write a poem) from the book "A Lesson Before Dying," by Earnest J. Gaines. The story was of a black school teacher name Grant Wiggins who had a student who was on death row for a crime he didn't commit and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The student was also black and the story was based in the time of segregation. The whole story is from Grant's point of view (his students call him Mr. Grant). His character is fed up with all the racism to the point where he sees everything as hopeless and that he doesn't believe it is worth trying to change nor does he have much hope for his black students because of the oppression of the white man. I won't spoil the story for you because it's a really fascinating tale.