whiteness never rests
“Black lives matter” takes backseat when we chant “white is best.”
This chant has variations, different verses, rhymes and tunes,
As history often echoes, and equality seems a ruse.
From where does this lie of hatred stem? Its roots are surely known,
Through European conquest, we named all found land as “home”.
As I walk along this eerie path, I see a flash of color.
Poor blacks and whites unite and cry “resist oppressive rulers”
But race is used like a wedge by elites who fear revolt,
A multiracial coalition ends with a quick jolt.
Bacon’s rebellion gone, chattel slavery in full swing,
Enshrined in our constitution, black equals nothing
Founded on fraudulent lines of fraternity for all,
Whiteness reigns strategic and supreme, strong, it won’t soon fall
From its pedestal of paternalism, claiming “we know best”
Citing God as our patron, who’s blessed our holy quest.
I continue on my weary way, burdened by this guilt,
Complicit with a racist faith and a nation glazed in filth.
The road of whiteness winds along and woefully I trod,
Where is truth and hope and goodness? Tell me, where is God?
A spat of red breaks through the white, deadly violence ensues
A country torn in two, maybe now whiteness will lose.
The black body is unshackled; face turned towards the sun
A decade of black uplift, then whiteness snarled, “you’re done.”
Despaired, I take another step and soon realized what I’ve missed,
Whiteness, never sleeping, has expanded its hitlist.
Arrays of Asian exclusion acts, no citizenship for them
And by my side trapped on the road, a group of native children
Alone and scared, stripped of their land, whiteness has invaded
Village after village, driving them out in deep hatred.
The road I trudge leads south again, a new system now in tow,
Black people still enslaved and whipped, but this time by Jim Crow.
I hear groans of agony but am slammed by whiteness, too
“They don’t deserve to vote or read, they’re lazy through and through.”’
DuBois walks by, speaking sternly of how he’s torn apart,
Both American and Black, man, but deemed to have no heart.
“Strange fruit, strange fruit,” I hear eerie echoes of Billie’s cry
As black man after black man is lined up to hang and die.
Sparks of light sustain strands of hope that justice still will come,
Black power and a rainbow cloud, “resistance,” people hum.
But Malcom’s shot and King lays slain, no justice for the poor
Whiteness fears unity’s strength and slams shut another door.
The road passes through a courthouse, the people lose their voice.
Well-meaning lawyers take the reins, a subconscious, cold choice.
Legislation trumps people’s lives and folks fall through the cracks
Affirmative action, sure, but how about other blacks?
As laws are passed and promises made, we see race no more.
But whiteness holds the victory and subtly takes the floor.
“Law and order” scream the masses, still chanting “white knows best”
“Lock them up, add more time,” put democracy to the test.
A prison complex looms ahead, the road seems fully blocked
Millions trapped in this fearsome beast, the gate to life is locked
Racist policing ignores facts, white criminals just walk
Black kids can’t even be kids, villainized by cruel talk.
We don’t see color anymore but who else don’t we see?
The family torn apart by ICE, the black teen who ain’t free
To speak his mind, dream big and wide, and all for smoking pot?
Branded a felon for his whole life, jobs cannot be got.
Whiteness holds hypocrisy’s hand as they jaunt down the road,
“Colorblindness!” they proudly shout, a new and fault-proof code
Name for racism and hatred, for violence, greed and fear.
The New Jim Crow is in full swing, and grinning ear to ear.
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