America is a country of the free
There's equal rights for you and me
We've all heard it, but we all know that's not completely true
The land I call America may be a different place for you
This sweet land of liberty
Was marred by decades of slavery
As women fought for the vote and racism ran rampant
Some of this great country's thunder was dampened
As Native Americans were dragged from their home in chains
And the Japanese were thrown into camps in the Great Plains
I don't need to recount the stories, you've heard them
The stories of oppression and bloodshed that we all condemn
America has had a rough past, and the present certainly isn't perfect
We still have certain groups suffering from discrimination and neglect
But there's still some good in us, let's discuss it
Because while we aren't perfect, we're slowly getting the spirit
Like on 9/11 when the Twin Towers fell
And emergency workers rushed in despite the yells
412 emergency workers lost their lives in the fray
And we still applaud their bravery to this very day
And the freedom of speech that we enjoy in this nation
Is an envy in other countries ruled by dictation
There's so much diversity here, and while we're still figuring out how to handle it,
Where else can you live in one town yet meet every corner of the planet?
So yes we're still improving: at least we aren't denying our wrongs anymore
Say what you might about this country, it's gotten better than before
You can't fix things you don't notice, so keep coming with the criticism
But maybe while you're at it, don't completely lose you patriotism
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Sunday, October 6, 2019
What to the Native American is your America? (Option Three)
[Time: the Trail of Tears, Speaker: A Native American Chief]
Pardon me dear officer, but allow me to ask. Why do you gather my men here? What do I, or any of my kinsmen, have to do with the passage of your 'Indian Removal Act?' This Act is named after us, and concerns us, but what permission from us was taken during its making? The answer is none. Are we expected to submissively give up the lands that our forefathers have spent generations taming, and express our devout gratitude for the unknown western lands your government sees itself as blessing us with?
Such will not be the case. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within this nation's glories! The blessings in which you, at this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, safety, and political representation fought for by your fathers is shared by you, not me. The victory at Yorktown which brought freedom and life to you has brought oppression and death to me. This United States of America is yours not mine. You may rejoice this government, I must mourn.
Fellow-humans; above your national, tumultuous joy of acquiring new land, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Whose chains, heavy and grievous, are weighed down by the knowledge that they are losing their lands, their liberties, that they have rightfully owned for thousands of moons. I must faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, who were ripped from this world by hunger and sickness while forcefully being moved thousands of paces from their homelands.
Allow me to ask one final question officer. What, to the Native American is your America. What, to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, or Seminole is your America? I answer: a country of gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. Picture yourselves in our lives for just a day, picture yourselves experiencing the bombast, fraud, deception, and pain we do, and you will say with me, that for bloody oppression and revolting barbarity, America reigns without a rival.
Pardon me dear officer, but allow me to ask. Why do you gather my men here? What do I, or any of my kinsmen, have to do with the passage of your 'Indian Removal Act?' This Act is named after us, and concerns us, but what permission from us was taken during its making? The answer is none. Are we expected to submissively give up the lands that our forefathers have spent generations taming, and express our devout gratitude for the unknown western lands your government sees itself as blessing us with?
Such will not be the case. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within this nation's glories! The blessings in which you, at this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, safety, and political representation fought for by your fathers is shared by you, not me. The victory at Yorktown which brought freedom and life to you has brought oppression and death to me. This United States of America is yours not mine. You may rejoice this government, I must mourn.
Fellow-humans; above your national, tumultuous joy of acquiring new land, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Whose chains, heavy and grievous, are weighed down by the knowledge that they are losing their lands, their liberties, that they have rightfully owned for thousands of moons. I must faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, who were ripped from this world by hunger and sickness while forcefully being moved thousands of paces from their homelands.
Allow me to ask one final question officer. What, to the Native American is your America. What, to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee, or Seminole is your America? I answer: a country of gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. Picture yourselves in our lives for just a day, picture yourselves experiencing the bombast, fraud, deception, and pain we do, and you will say with me, that for bloody oppression and revolting barbarity, America reigns without a rival.
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