Slavery

Don't question what we've taught you;
Don't try to understand;
Some were made to lead, and some to follow;
We are the head, and you the hands.
It is the way of the world
That we should rule and you should serve.
Don't the snow-white mountains
Tower far above the coal-black earth?
It's right that we should tell you what to think,
What to feel, and whom to trust.
If you're wise you will remember:
All you have belongs to us.
Your life?
We may take it when we wish to.
Your body?
It is for our use, not yours.
Your mind?
It is far inferior to ours.
Your soul?
Do you even have one?

Less than human, less than nothing.
I've heard it so many times before.
What is life, if it means this?
Defined by others, living for
Enlightened despots who rule with iron fists,
In a land that is not my home;
Nothing but a tool, a toy, a tamed animal:
My body, mind, and soul are not my own.
Everything is beautiful in its time:
The silver tears shed for our children, husbands, wives;
The scarlet stripes that grace our backs;
The golden coins that buy and sell our lives.
They beat me down with whips,
And tie me down with chains;
But worse still are the whispered words,
The whispered words that never change:
Your body, mind, and soul belong to us.
I stand behind a prison door:
Less than human, less than nothing,
Never to be something more.

Hey! It's you! With the awesome avatar! You have good rhyming skills. I feel you should have drawn much more difference between the two stanzas. Perhaps the first could be as factual as it is and the second should contain more imagery - it should not just echo the first. But actually, you've accomplished that quite well already. I think if you wanted to make this much better, you'd do to work in extremes. Like... real extremes. And while it might seem that that's distorting what really happened for the sake of poetry, in most cases what really happened was more extreme than poets are allowed to say. You could also do to experiment with a different form of slavery (Just for fun now). Something more common in the world nowadays than the racist slavery. Sex slavery, child slavery children in wars, human trafficking, rich over poor, corporate America, Televangelists... all forms of slavery to differing degrees (Of course the televangelists are not as bad as the pedophiles but they have their own twisted form of exploitation.

Otherwise, I found no actual problems in this piece. It was well written. Perhaps instead of the italics/non difference, you could have one piece along the left margin and the other on the right?

Thanks for the great read,
TheNewHero