Anatomy of Regression (Inspired by Mr. Hayes)

[DWAYNE]

I seek now not to dispel the American dream of our forefathers,
but to both: decry those factions whose practices and pronouncements
so richly deserve denunciation;
and to implore the pursuit of yet greater aspirations.
To expound upon the dissemination of hatred,
and the deleterious effects of these deeds.
For the examination of a nation’s history
is a necessary exercise in spiritual bloodletting
which facilitates a cure.

While our forefathers heralded both life and liberty:
they slaughtered those who first greeted them;
derived the dichotomous depictions of white and black;
and boasted the biblical bonafides of bonded servitude.
Devine Sanctioned Dehumanization.
Made mules of men to till the soil,
and filled coffers with the fruits of that toil.

And the roots of the greatest strife
in this fragile union
was the question
of the facility of state sanctioned servitude,
which pressed patriarch and progeny
to take up arms against each other
to settle the argument.

And even after the massacre of millions
the vanquished
desperate to claim de facto victory,
made manifest the marginalization
of their former chattel.
Codified their criminalization.
Made Draconian incarceration.
Resurrected servitude.

Eager to justify their inhumanity,
deceptively defined essential blackness:
Lasciviousness.
A Propensity for Larceny.
Inherent Criminality.

This cruel categorization of color.
Made caricatures of a continent.
Mythical monstrous mystique.
Mastered media manipulation
to manifest the message.

And it is neither enlightenment nor altruism
which hath made he who was once counted 3/5 a man, whole,
but the Murder of Medgar, Malcolm and Martin
made manifest that martyrdom
which prayed us hoist their burdens,
and take up their cross.
Defying Death’s dominion,
denying Death’s vain sting.
And pursued that semblance of equality
reserved for those who would risk death to attain it.

Yet now we see the zealously xenophobic,
Forsake the angels of their most scrupulous selves,
in favour of those lesser spirits.

We do not doubt that many aspire to make America great again.
But recognize that the America of which they speak,
owes its prosperity to the marginalization,
and opportunistic exploitation of those with darker hues.
It is a dream that panders to the basest fear,
the disseminating a dystopian nightmare.

For the history of this planet is replete
with nations, who having been romanced by tyrants,
Subsequently discard that favour.
And in an effort to alleviate the constituent guilt,
aspire to annihilate the evidence of their shame.
Indignant of the internal iniquities
which constitute complicity.

For the few that have been foisted by the bullet;
many more have been hoisted by the ballot.
And one cannot escape the conclusion
that the demonstrable depravity of such a man,
invariably reflects the erosion
of the people and the place that produce him.

NOTE

Both the title, and the inspiration for this poem, were inspired by comments Mr. Hayes made regarding my poem, Unmasked .

I encourage all to parse the site for his excellent elucidating work.

[divot]

The pit, the hole, the well of living hell

Not someplace where man should dwell

Living in that gritty past

The glass half empty, I know where we’ve been

Free at last, free at last

Grumblings for those that care to feast

On poetry

[DWAYNE]

We often view history as a neat encapsulation of past events, as if they have no bearing on the present state of affairs.

This is a mistake.

Long held prejudices and caricatures, effect how people are CURRENTLY characterized and perceived.

These preconceived notions, effect critical decisions. Life altering decisions.

Is that security guard heroic or a criminal?

Snap decisions may end a man's life!

Perceptions of inherent criminality, lead to harassment by law enforcement on a DAILY basis.

Despite efforts to do all of the right things. Get educated, get respectful employment, be demonstrably dignified.

All of these accomplishments things are discarded by prejudice.

And much of the roots of this prejudice, lies in how woefully uneducated and uninformed the general public are, about the history of mass murder and injustice, perpetrated against many in this society. Further the positive contributions of minorities to American culture, have systematically been excluded from the history books. Leaving a distorted record, largely unchallenged.

Those who continue to suffer the indignities and injustices of these conditions, cannot simply move on. There is nothing to move on from. The factors that oppressed their ancestors to the point of enslavement and death, continue to afflict them. Now. Today.

Voter Suppression in Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, among others, targeted disenfranchisement of thousands of blacks and Latinos is happening TODAY. 53 years after the Voting Rights Act, we are still fighting for the right to cast our vote! In the land of the free and the home of the brave.

So I do wonder when we will indeed be free at last.

If somebody is putting you through hell, you have the right, to protest, and raise awareness to that hardship.

Our ancestors who fought to gain the very rights that are being denied us, would say we have the responsibility to fight for what it is ours. In this life time. I doubt they would see efforts to draw attention to these critical matters, as trivial.

If we refuse to speak out against these conditions, how do they improve? How does the next generation escape the hardships of previous ones?

If we do not identify the problem, how do we go about fixing it? How do we arrive at a better society, if we continue to deny the ills of the current one?