Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen
There he got his parole
After four long years on a man killing charge
Tom Joad come a walking down the road, poor boy
Tom Joad come a walking down the road
Tom Joad he met a truck driving man
There he caught him a ride He said: "I just got loose from
McAlester's Pen On a charge called Homicide, A charge called
Homicide."
That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust,
Tommy turned his face toward home,
He met Preacher Casey and they had a little drink,
But they found that his family they was gone,
He found that his family they was gone.
He found his mother's old fashion shoe
Found his daddy's hat.
And he found little Muley and Muley said:
"They've been tractored out by the cats,
They've been tractored out by the cats."
Tom Joad walked down to the neighbors farm
Found his family.
They took Preacher Casey and loaded in a car
And his mother said "We got to git away."
His mother said 'We got to get away."
Now the twelve of the Joads made a mighty heavy load
But Grandpa Joad did cry.
He picked up a handful of land in his hand
Said: "I'm stayin' with the farm till I die.
Yes, I'm stayin' with my farm till I die."
They fed him short ribs and coffee and soothing syrup
And Grandpa Joad did die.
They buried Grandpa Joad by the side of the road,
Buried Grandma on the California side,
They buried Grandma on the California side.
They stood on a Mountain and they looked to the West And it
looked like the promised land. That bright green valley with a
river running through, There was work for every single hand, they
thought, There was work for every single hand.
The Joads rolled away to Jungle Camp, There they cooked a stew.
And the hungry little kids of the Jungle Camp Said: "We'd like to
have some too." Said: "We'd like to have some too."
Now a Deputy Sheriff fired loose at a man
Shot a woman in the back.
Before he could take his aim again
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.
Preacher Casey dropped him in his track.
They handcuffed Casey and they took him to Jail
And then he got away.
And he met Tom Joad on the old river bridge,
And these few words he did say, poor boy,
These few words he did say.
"I preached for the Lord a mighty long time
Preached about the rich and the poor.
Us workin' folks got to all get together,
Cause we ain't got a chance anymore.
We ain't got a chance anymore."
The Deputies come and Tom and Casey run
To the bridge where the water run down.
But the vigilante they hit Casey with a club,
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.
They laid Preacher Casey on the ground.
Tom Joad he grabbed that Deputy's club
Hit him over the head.
Tom Joad took flight in the dark rainy night
A Deputy and a Preacher lying dead, two men,
A Deputy and a Preacher lying dead.
Tom run back where his mother was asleep
He woke her up out of bed.
Then he kissed goodbye to the mother that he loved
Said what Preacher Casey said, Tom Joad,
He said what Preacher Casey said.
"Ever'body might be just one big soul
Well it looks that a way to me.
Everywhere that you look in the day or night
That's where I'm gonna be, Ma,
That's where I'm gonna be.
Wherever little children are hungry and cry
Wherever people ain't free.
Wherever men are fightin' for their rights
That's where I'm gonna be, Ma.
That's where I'm a gonna be.
--Tom Joad, Woody Guthrie
This song, and the character of Tom Joad From Steinbeck's classic "The Grapes of Wrath" has always inspired me, but now, more so than ever. Whether or not it has always been true, I am finding myself surrounded by desperate people trying as hard as they can to get by in a time that's as tough as my generation has ever known. I see the breadlines, 50-100 people long every day, waiting 2 hours to get "day old" produce and bakery from the stores; the commodoties giveaways, where 300-1000 families in our community of 30,000 wait in line for hours to get USDA commodities. I see the day labor employers, turning away workers because they've got more workers than jobs. I see supervisors driving workers to their limit and treating them like garbage because they know if they walk there will be ten more in line to take their place. I see all this and I say, it's not right.
I have always believed in the ethic that if a person refuses to work (assuming they're capable), then they have no cause to beg for the unearned food. But a person has to HAVE work before someone can rightly turn them away on those grounds, and so many go lacking for work. There is a prevailing belief, and it has sadly infected many churches and the federal government that teaches that the poor are where they are because they CHOOSE to be, and on the basis of that belief, a blind eye is turned. This is not right, this is NEVER right.
I will grant that I did not speak with such passion on this subject until it hit us close to home. But because it DID hit close to home, and because I know it is wrong, I intend to speak out on this issue as long as I have a voice.
respectfully submitted,
Gideon MacLeish