Gather round me, you Americans,
if you believe in right and wrong.
The newspapers have ignored this,
I'll tell it in a song.
The papers and the TV
never told a story straight.
So listen now, I will to you,
the honest facts relate.
Let me take you to a corner
of this world
that we call free.
It's Monroe, North Carolina,
where the Klan rules by decree.
Now, maybe you thought
the Klan was dead
and buried long ago.
Well, in August 1961
you should have been in old Monroe.
It's a town of about ten thousand,
it could be a pretty place.
But there's uncertainty and fear
to be seen on many a face.
A railroad slices through Monroe,
it's not one town, but two towns.
On the right, Monroe is white,
and on the left is Newtown.
Eighteen Freedom Riders
came in Au gust 61,
at the call of young Rob Williams,
to see what could be done.
Robert Williams was a leader,
a gi ant of a man.
He said, let's protect our families
from the violence of the Klan.
Well, the Klansmen, they got busy,
they came from everywhere,
All armed with guns and pistols,
and Chief Mooney didn't care.
They staged a bloody riot,
and the deck was surely stacked,
Cause the only ones arrested
were the ones who were
attacked.
Now listen for the frame -up
Did the Klan lay a plan
To trap Williams and his friends
And make him flee the land
A couple by name of Stiegel
Were driving in a car
They drove right into Newtown
That was a bit too far
For Negroes live in Newtown
And on that fatal day
They'd set their lines of self -defense
against the KKK.
The Stigols,
they were frightened.
They're stopped at Williams'
door.
And Robert Williams told the crowd
to let the Stigols go.
He said, come on inside my house,
you'll get hurt if you stay here.
And Williams led the Stigols
inside his own house there.
And though this man had saved them,
police got on his trail.
Nothing less than a kid
napped charge,
twenty years to life in jail.
And then the mighty FBI
joined in
to help the Klan,
With vicious posters tacked up
in post offices through the land,
Saying Rob was armed and dangerous,
and schizophrenic too,
As though to shoot him down
on sight
would be the safest thing to do.
But Rob escaped to Canada,
and then to Mexico,
an d now he stays in Cuba
where the FBI can't go.
And now a make -believe trial
comes in 1962
an d we are wondering
if in Monroe
that justice can come through.
Perhaps when it gets
to the Supreme Court
they'll get a better shake,
But it's in the hearts of you an d me,
the decision must be made.
For we are all as guilty,
till we make that day to come,
When Robert Williams can re turn
to his Union County home.
So listen, Mr. President,
and listen, Brother Bob,
If you de fend the free world,
here is a little job.
If you don't believe the words I say,
go see it for yourself.
Go down and visit old Monroe,
but be careful of your health.
There's lots of good people in Monroe,
but they are scared to say,
Go down to old Monroe, Bob,
tell them this is the USA.
They say the German people
the crimes of Hitler never knew,
Well, let American people see
what fascists here can do,
For we've had enough of murder,
we've had enough of lies,
And the Ku Klux Klan
and ol' Monroe
is due to be surprised.
For in Washington and round
the world
we're being asked today
Is Monroe, North Carolina
in the good ol' USA?
Monroe, Monroe,
I hear those voices say
Is Monroe, North Carolina
in the good ol' USA?
Bye
Pete Seeger 
