Bunny laughed mirthlessly and said, "Sedalia, bless your dumb little heart. Poor Joe must have flipped-flopped in his grave when you said good luck. Sedalia, I loved Joe so much. He made me respectable. He died in his sleep at forty-two and the coroner, with all his knives and education, could only say that Joe died a natural death. It wasn't a natural death for Joe. He was intelligent, ambitious, and a high school graduate.

But he was black in the white folks hateful world, where a n-word is like a mop head or a toilet brush. The white folks use him to clean up their puking and droppings until he wears out. Then they simply press another hungry n-word into service. They never really see him or realize he is a human unless he steals from them or kills one of them. Then they drop the full weight of their double standard law and bury him in prison or barbecue him in the electric chair.

No, Joe didn't die a natural death. He was proud and fit for better and he hated the filthy garbage amd the slimey sewers he worked. He just lay down that night and died of hopelessness and a broken heart.

Mama Black Widow by Iceberg Slim