Beach me, beach me on their black backs, boys; only do that for me, and I'll sign over to you my Martha's Vineyard plantation, boys; including wife and children, boys.
The GOP, in a clear and present effort to treat our new black president like he was the uppity slave to their southern Birth of a Nation-style good ol' boy plantation owners, made it a blood promise pledge to defeat any significant bill that was created on behalf of the people.
He lived on the plantation himself, had a house boy, a prisoner who served him, and lived a life that, in many ways, resembled slavery.
Brought in from the field as a boy by the plantation's well-meaning but still racist owner (Vanessa Redgrave), Cecil is taught how to serve white people, a lesson that echoes Ralph Ellison's powerful metaphor of the invisible man: "The room should feel empty when you're in it".
Then Nat and his boys went from plantation to plantation, killing white people and freeing slaves.
I took one boy down on de plantation; he is a big boy now, working mong de Unions.
It was followed in quick succession by Doidinho (1933; "Daffy Boy"), Bangüê (1934; "Old Plantation"), O moleque Ricardo (1935; "Black Boy Richard"), and Usina (1936; "The Sugar Refinery").
Most recent was Daniel, his 2006 novel about a boy born on a plantation in 1759, which he isn't entirely impressed by today.
