All dressed up, in their Sunday best
They crossed the sea, just like the rest,
Their experience in Britain, was undeniably hard
From Galway, Saint Lucia, the Government Yard.
Denied accommodation, with nothing to chose
And they took the jobs, that others would refuse;
Long hours on the Underground or building sites
Second class citizens, left starved of civil rights.
Had to clean dirty toilets or work for British rail
Encountering verbal abuse went beyond the pale;
The immigrants were bigger than their abusers
For they weren’t bigots or narrow minded losers.
The British Empire was built on occupation and thief
Robbing others heritage and destroying what was left,
Not just the slave trade that left blood on their hands
From Cork City, Delhi, to the Caribbean sands.
The landlady’s prevarications, with a bit of a sneer
It’s me husband, he don’t like your kind around here;
But with dignity the immigrants, thanked and departed
Through discrimination and mistrust the animosity was started.
Now the people have come here – for work & digs
But there is a notice in windows, from racist pigs,
This sort of mindset should have shamed a nation
No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish aloud in this accommodation.
