Chuck D. belandt in de gevangenis omdat hij weigert in het leger te gaan (They wanted me for their army or whatever/Picture me given’ a damn/I said never/Here is a land that never gave a damn/About a brother like me and myself). Al snel komen de omstandigheden in de bajes hem de neus uit (Four of us packed in a cell like slaves) en besluit hij een ontsnappingspoging te wagen. De ontsnapping eindigt in een full scale prison riot, waarbij Chuck één van de gevangenbewaarders overhoop schiet. Volgens de tekst weet Chuck te ontsnappen, maar de video suggereert dat het niet meer dan een dagdroom is. 
Drug Sentencing Disparities
- About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug
- 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites
- African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense.
- African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). (Sentencing Project)
Contributing Factors
- Inner city crime prompted by social and economic isolation
- Crime/drug arrest rates: African Americans represent 12% of monthly drug users, but comprise 32% of persons arrested for drug possession
- “Get tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies
- Mandatory minimum sentencing, especially disparities in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine possession
- In 2002, blacks constituted more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal crack cocaine laws and served substantially more time in prison for drug offenses than did whites, despite that fact that more than 2/3 of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic
- “Three Strikes”/habitual offender policies
- Zero Tolerance policies as a result of perceived problems of school violence; adverse affect on black children.
- 35% of black children grades 7-12 have been suspended or expelled at some point in their school careers compared to 20% of Hispanics and 15% of whites
Bron: NAACP
I got a letter from the government
The other day
I opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for their army or whatever
Picture me given’ a damn, I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself
Because they never did
I wasn’t wit’ it, but just that very minute
It occurred to me
The suckers had authority
Cold sweatin’ as I dwell in my cell
How long has it been?
They got me sittin’ in the state pen
I gotta get out, but that thought was thought before
I contemplated a plan on the cell floor
I’m not a fugitive on the run
But a brother like me begun, to be another one
Public enemy servin’ time, they drew the line y’all
To criticize me some crime, never the less
They could not understand that I’m a Black man
And I could never be a veteran
On the strength, the situation’s unreal
I got a raw deal, so I’m goin’ for the steel
They got me rottin’ in the time that I’m servin’
Tellin’ you what happened the same time they’re throwin’
Four of us packed in a cell like slaves, oh well
The same motherfucker got us livin’ is his hell
You have to realize, what its a form of slavery
Organized under a swarm of devils
Straight up, word ‘em up on the level
The reasons are several, most of them federal
Here is my plan anyway and I say
I got gusto, but only some I can trust, yo
Some do a bid from one to ten
And I never did, and plus I never been
I’m on a tier where no tears should ever fall
Cell block and locked, I never clock it y’all
‘Cause time and time again time
They got me servin’ to those and to them
I’m not a citizen
But ever when I catch a see-O
Sleepin’ on the job, my plan is on go-ahead
On the strength, I’ma tell you the deal
I got nothin’ to lose
‘Cause I’m goin’ for the steel
You know I caught a C-O
Fallin’ asleep on death row
I grabbed his gun, then he did what I said so
And everyman’s got served
Along with the time they served
Decency was deserved
To understand my demands
I gave a warnin’, I wanted the governor, y’all
And plus the warden to know
That I was innocent,
Because I’m militant
Posing a threat, you bet it’s fuckin’ up the government
My plan said I had to get out and break north
Just like with Oliver’s neck
I had to get off, my boys had the feds in check
They couldn’t do nothin’
We had a force to instigate a prison riot
This is what it takes for peace
So I just took the piece
Black for Black inside time to cut the leash
Freedom to get out, to the ghetto, no sell out
6 see-Os we got we ought to put their head out
But I’ll give ‘em a chance, ‘cause I’m civilized
As for the rest of the world, they can’t realize
A cell is hell, I’m a rebel so I rebel
Between bars, got me thinkin’ like an animal
Got a woman C-O to call me a copter
She tried to get away, and I popped her
Twice, right
Now who want to get nice?
I had six C-O’s, now it’s 5 to go
And I’m serious, call me delirious
But I’m still a captive
I gotta rap this
Time to break as time grows intense
I got the steel in my right hand
Now I’m lookin’ for the fence
I ventured into the courtyard
Followed by fifty two brothers
Bruised, battered, and scarred but hard
Goin’ out with a bang
Ready to bang out
But power from the sky
And from the tower shots rang out
A high number of dose, yes
And some came close
Figure I trigger my steel
Stand and hold my post
This is what I mean, an anti-nigger machine
If I come out alive and then they won’t, come clean
And then I threw up my steel bullets, flew up
Blew up, who shot
What, who, the bazooka was who
And to my rescue, it was the S1Ws
Secured my getaway, so I just got away
The joint broke, from the black smoke
Then they saw it was rougher that the average bluffer
‘Cause the steel was black, the attitude exact
Now the chase is on tellin’ you to c’mon
53 brothers on the run, and we are gone
