[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.
Well done staying in character, and the passage did have an angry, but spitefully humourous tinge to it. The vocabulary is similar enough to be clearly able to distinguish that you are relating it to Fredrick Douglas’ speech and yet keeps its issues central to that of Native Americans. A good choice of group as well.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is very powerful. From the word choice and structure similar to Fredrick Douglas’ 4th of July speech to the tone of resentment throughout the piece, you do a great job conveying the injustice, oppression, and cruelty Native Americans face on their own land.
ReplyDeleteYou did an amazing job of capturing the plight of a repressed and underrepresented group of people in our nation, in the past as well as the present. As for the parody element of the piece your syntax and themes evocation to Douglas's writing works extremely well for a comedic effect and for furthering the power of the narrative of the piece as a whole.
ReplyDeleteunknown= Danny by the way. not sure why it didn't say my name.
DeleteI like the idea of writing Douglass's speech in regards to the mistreatment of Native Americans! The added caustic remarks along with dismal imagery really evokes emotions of anger and creates an urging call to action. Your word choice with heavily negative connotations mimics Douglass's speech very well.
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