Only a Pawn in Their Game

[Verse 1] A bullet from the back of the bush Took Medgar Evers' blood A finger fired the trigger to his name A handle hid out in the dark A hand set the spark Behind the man's brain But he can't be blamed He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 2] A south politician preaches to the poor white man "You got more than the blacks, don't complain You're better than them, you been born with white skin", they explain And the negro's name Is used, it is plain For the politician's gain As he rises to fame And the poor white remains On the caboose of the train But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 3] The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid And the marshals and cops get the same But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool He's taught in his school From the start by the rule That the laws are with him To protect his white skin To keep up his hate So he never thinks straight About the shape that he's in But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 4] From the poverty shacks, he looks through the cracks to the tracks And the hoof beats pound in his brain And he's taught how to walk in a pack Shoot in the back With his fist in a clinch To hang and to lynch To hide 'neath the hood To kill with no pain Like a dog on a chain He ain't got no name But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game [Verse 5] Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught They lowered him down like a king But when the shadowy sun sets on the one Who fired the gun He'll see by his grave On the stone that remains Carved next to his name His epitaph plain Only a pawn in their game