On etait punis pour parler en francais
but we spoke French on the playground
anyway
Roosevelt decreed
that we would all be
les Americains
One nation in English
not in Cajun French
or Mexican

So Poppa sent me
said 'public school, it's free
learn to read and write
'Cause T-Neg don't be
no Cajun farmer like me
who cuss and fight
on a Saturday night'

She whipped me 'til I could pray
in their damn anglais
and read and write
I said, 'Miz Breaux tu parles Cadjin
exactement comme moi'
she said, 'You're right'

but I quit, I won't be no low-class coonass
farmer's daughter serving up
the rice and gravy
And I'll be married soon as I can
to some black-boot Houston oil man
I pray
Now get out of my way

And, T-Neg, if that's your name
to me that's such a shame
And it ain't no uptown girl
who's gonna marry you, T-Neg'

The coloreds and the white
tenant farming side by side
on hands and knees
We all lived right next door
ten, twelve children maybe more
Us Catholics breed

Until I went to school most people
that I knew were coffee-colored brown
We'd have fell apart if we'd moved to town
in fear and hate we'd put each other down
Better stay out of town

And T-Neg, that's my name
to me it ain't no shame
And it ain't no uptown girl
who married ol' T-Neg

Je m'appelle T-Neg
ca veut dire 'little friend'
Et toi, t'es mon neg'
ca veut dire 'my dear' pour toujours
ma negress