Eddie Hask** - Higher Learning lyrics

This is the story of when my life was changed forever There's 16 oz. to a pound 18 more to a key And Mos Def wants to explain mathematics to me The situation seems tragic and I'm feeling like a culprit So I'mma look back and try to figure out where I faulted I was born in 81 dad fathered a baby son Turned into a strong man you he really help make me one And ever since I can remember He told me skin color was irrelevant just act your gender When I was 8 I bought a Public Enemy tape I didn't fear the black planet wanted to hear the black planet Were they talking fight the power or fight the powder It didn't matter when I was nine I just screamed it louder And at 10 I bought shirts where hands met in the middle And when whites said the word n******g I got upset a little When I was 11 I really thought that I was helping the blacks I saved up my allowance for a Malcolm X hat I wore it until a gun got pulled on me People thought I was an idiot but I was just innocent For many reasons I was balling really my a** cried But nothing will compare to what happened last night [Chorus] The 14th amendment doesn't help to encourage friendship And nobody really tries to fight to put an end to it So if you open your eyes then the sooner you'll see It's obviously up to us and its only you and me Who else you know but Illmatic on the date of its release You got hyped off "One Mic" and bought the 4 previous cds He f**ed up threw a diss people said I'm out of my league But this white boy aint going back to bottom feed So now I paid my dues I thought it was obvious But still I hear 'Yo, You out of line with that Nas diss This aint just a novice with a college career People took me as a joke so the knowledge is here And it really ate me up self pride swallowed with fear Contemplated last night sipping on a bottle of beer So now I leave the bar its just a short run to the house And out of nowhere I hear a car coming from the south They jumped out 4 blacks pushed me back to the ground With fists and kicks yo they beat my a** down Outside I was pissed inside callin for Mom But my face was full of blood and my wallet And I wish I could say it wasn't cause of my race But it was obvious they did it cause of the color of my face They said f** you cracker f** you Cracker I'm think what the f** yo don't they know I'm a rapper Said f** you Cracker I'm thinking f** you too But said it to myself so the beating would conclude They drove off laughin and I'm sitting there gaspin All I can do is just watch time as its pa**in Laying there alone broke down stared to cry Can you believe what happened to me last night? [Chorus] I got nothing but sympathy for what happened to your relatives But I was in an emergency room and that's relative I can't believe that I was so naive I never ever thought it could happen to little old me I'd never been a racist but now I'm the victim of a hate crime You'd be surprised how it f**s up the state of your mind And I knew that it would only heal through time with rhymes But I'm real afraid that it may leave scars behind And then it hit me. I wasn't mad at black but mad at the kids For giving me a concussion and shattering my ribs I got many black friends they respect me I respect them I was only seeing one color in the spectrum And even thought they did it cause of my skin tone If I grew to hate all blacks that I would've been no Better than them a hypocrite a fake profit Because I grew up thinking we'd unite to stop this Racial oppression, aggression its tension obsession As with everything out pops the lesson The tears are all gone I can't believe my a** cried Cause I learned so much from what happened last night