Woody Guthrie would have been concerned about the plight of the "boat people". He was by no means a "doctrinaire" person. His idea of politics was subjective and personal and he always identified with those who were less well-off. He actually was "Christian" in his belief system to the extent that he wrote "Jesus Christ" as he saw him, a working-class hero. He identified with segregated black soldiers in the army and when he was in the merchant marines, and Mexican farm workers or Chicano folks in East L.A. He was definitely a leftist-radical but not a Marxist theorist. The meaning of the song is personal. He believed that hard luck folks deserve compassion and a decent shake in life. I think that it was this conviction that motivated his songwriting. He didn't have much tolerance for wealthy indifference. He walked away from show business because it wasn't about money or prestige for him. I believe that he had no particular political axe to grind. He wasn't a soap box orator. These songs were written as a personal statement and not to foster any political concepts other than his own personal convictions.

I have to say this because there is a suggestion by some on the Republican side to think of Woody as a propagandist. I think this is wrong. Woody believed what he wrote.

The meaning is clear. Immigrant Mexican Farm Workers are human beings and should be treated with respect and dignity, something that is being forgotten today as the construction of border walls against them are being contemplated by some who want to scapegoat them. This makes his song more relevant and powerful now.

Frank Hamilton