You say this is the land of the free, but free for whom? From left to right: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Photo and art courtesy of Nikkolas Smith.
*Trigger Warning: Article discusses racism and racial violence against black people.*
You say this is the land of the free, but free for whom? You had chattel slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, redlining. You wiped out entire native populations and stole their land. To this day, this country still has kids in cages housed like dogs in a kennel.
You say this is the home of the brave, but you still have people who fly the Confederate flag, a flag of cowards, a flag of traitors, and have people march who say “Jews will not replace us.”
You say ‘All Lives Matter’, but only to silence the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. When have Black lives ever mattered in this country? Just because we elected a Black man to the Oval Office did not wipe away 389 years of racism, discrimination, sexism, police brutality, and subjugation. Having a Black president did not make you anti-racist, it made you a closeted racist.
You say we need to be color blind, but your color blindness is the issue. Your ancestors created the construct of race, so now we cannot divorce race from lived reality.
You say we should not kneel during the national anthem because it disrespects the flag. It was never about that flag, it was about your willful ignorance to the Black condition you continue to reinforce rather than fix.
But let us talk about that lovely flag of yours. Isn’t it the same flag that Black people fought under during the World Wars and Vietnam, after fighting the likes of Nazis, fascists, and communists, just to come home to be lynched and denied the resources available to white soldiers? Isn’t it the same flag that staged coups in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, destabilizing entire regions for generations?
You say to leave the ghettos and inner cities, but you make policy that makes it near impossible to do so.
You say to get a job, but you do not pay a living wage.
You say vote, but you create legislation that suppresses our vote and weaponizes our poverty.
You say education is the way out, but you chronically defund our public schools and job programs.
You say that drug addiction is bad, but you throw Black addicts in prison and give white addicts treatment.
You say get over slavery, but you still benefit from your ancestors’ genocides, war crimes, and human rights violations.
You say you are a Christian, but you fail to live up to the tenants of our faith. You look down at the least of us, but refuse to acknowledge the socioeconomic and political reasons for ingrained, generational poverty and crime. You rail against welfare when it comes to people of color, but Jesus said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,” and “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” You speak so much about that which the Bible speaks so little, and speak so little about that which it speaks so much.
You say that by taking down monuments and statues to slavery holders, slave traders, and Confederate generals that we are trying to erase “our” history. Who is this “our’’ referring to? That is not the history of black people getting rights. Rather, that is the centuries-old history of racial animosity and antagonism; that is the history of your ascent to control, to power. It is the history of what your people are capable of doing just to make our lives a living hell. If you think taking down a monument of traitors is treason, I am not sorry to say that you are a traitor to the flag you claim to love. If you think taking down a monument of traitors is erasing history, open a book. You do not need a physical manifestation to remember history. I do not need a statue to tell me that this country killed millions during the Cold War. I do not need a statue to tell me that family separations are immoral. I do not need a statue to tell me that we still have avid racists, sexists, xenophobes, homophobes, transphobes, and bigots in this country. We just had the physical embodiment of discrimination, prejudice, antagonism, and bigotry in the White House.
You say that if I don’t resist, I won’t die, but George was not resisting when America placed a knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. His life mattered.
You say if I don’t do anything wrong, I won’t die, but Tamir was playing in a park when America put two bullets in him and discarded his body like the rinds of strange fruit. His life mattered.
You say if I know my rights, I won’t die, but Sandra knew her rights and America lynched her in a jail cell and left her hanging like a stuck pendulum. Her life mattered.
You say if I follow the rules, I won’t die, but Philando followed the rules and America executed him mafia style with five bullets to the chest. His life mattered.
You say if I am a productive member of society, I won’t die, but Breonna was an EMT and America broke into her house, leaving her with eight holes in her body. Her life mattered.
You say if I stay on my property, I won’t die, but Stephon was at his grandmother’s house when America shot him six times in his back. His life mattered.
You say if I am one of the good ones, I won’t die.
America, I just want to breathe.
America, I just want to live.
America. LET. ME. LIVE.