" The Bourgeois Blues " is a blues @-@ style protest song that criticizes the culture of Washington , DC . It protests against both the city 's Jim Crow laws and the racism of its white population . Its structure includes several verses and a refrain that declares that the speaker is going to " spread the news all around " about the racial issues plaguing the city . The song , particularly in the refrain , conflates race and economics by referring to Caucasians as " bourgeois " .