This is my Las Vegas and American Story with very little punctuation
America
America
America
Listen to me
See my visions
A large African-American family with Southern values
In their Sunday best
Leaving church
So, America, what do you assume?
Do they belong to an all black church, perhaps they're baptist?
Are they in the South or at least near by?
Are they poor and live in the black side of town?
Do their children only make D's and F's in school?
Oh, America, you shouldn't assume
The large African-American family lives in Northern California
They are coming out of an old and established Roman Catholic Church
Most parishioners are Filipino
The family is well-off – they are upper middle class
Their children are good students
They graduated from good Californian universities: U.C. Berkeley, UCLA, Hayward State and Sacramento State
Italians and her white colleagues would love mom's lasagna and greens with turkey necks
Mexicans would love dad's burritos
The children love Thai and one of them is addicted to escargot
America do you need more?
An elegant Japanese women
Sitting behind a desk
Putting on make up
So, America, what do you assume?
Is her siblings well educated?
Is her family wealthy?
Did her family recently came from Japan?
Does she speak English well?
Oh, America, you shouldn't assume
She's a librarian
She grew up poor
Her parents were raised in central California
She was the only child in her family to receive a degree
She likes soul food
America do you need more?
A young white couple
In a black Mercedes
Listening to music while driving
So, America, what do you assume?
Do they come from upper middle class WASP families?
Are they doing economically well?
Do they speak the language of the dominant culture?
Are they listening to the classics or soft rock perhaps?
The couple lives in Contra Costa County, in a nice upper middle class neighborhood
They're facing bankruptcy
The husband was adopted by a Mexican family
His was given up by his teenage mother
The wife's family was well-off
Her parents love drugs
Lost everything and they divorce
He mother became a welfare queen
Standard English is good for work, but they mostly speak a common man's tongue
They love gangsta rap
Hot sauce is a necessity for their meals
America
America
America
You should never assume.
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