What is America to me A name, a map, or a flag I see A certain word, democracy What is America to me The house I live in A plot of Earth, a street The grocer and the butcher And the people that I meet The children in the playground The faces that I see All races and religions That's America to me The place I work in The worker by my side The little town the city Where my people lived and died The howdy and the handshake The air a feeling free And the right to speak your mind out That's America to me The things I see about me The big things and the small The little corner newsstand Or the house a mile tall The wedding and the churchyard The laughter and the tears The dream that's been a growing For a hundred and fifty years The town I live in The street, the house, the room The pavement of the city Or the garden all in bloom The church the school the clubhouse The million lights I see But especially the people That's America to me
Harry Belafonte during a live broadcast with William B. Williams
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