It’s not about disrespect
the ‘one-knee’ genuflect
that drives the politicians insane.
It’s not about the veterans
who’ve fought in any war
or those who haven't
—for that matter.
It’s not about the flag
or what it stands for:
in case you’ve forgotten
it stands for all of us—
we are all created "equal,"
and have “certain inalienable rights”
nowhere does it specify these 'colors'
belong to only the ‘white.’
Stereotypes abound, they’ve been around
for decades. Gang culture permeates society
insults our integrity, so when a celebrity
takes a knee he is being too “gangsta.”
They’ll tell you it’s about race, that
“He’s dissing the flag…
he’s dissing the country…
he’s dissing the veterans…
Let’s put him in his place.”
It don’t matter the reason
because him and his kind
deserve to be punished;
we’ll spread the word
to endorse “open season”
Why can’t they just see this is where it began
‘See no evil, hear no evil…
don’t want to know.”
And if we don’t listen
and we turn a blind eye
we’re basically saying we “don’t give a damn”
—condoning the violence no matter the man.
This blindness is spreading
it turns to disease;
fueling deeper myopic tendencies.
It waits in the wings
like some kind of vulture
to pick the raw scabs
of our struggling culture.
No, it’s not about the flag, nor the vets nor the wars
nor the country we live in and love to the core
it’s about equal treatment under the law
and freedom to express one’s dissatisfaction
when our leaders are guilty of not taking action
for this huge demographic they choose to ignore.
The media blows this thing out of the water
the president perpetuates to sow more discord
No, it’s not about the flag or being unpatriotic
this constant barrage from this would-be warlord;
it is about trolling and controlling the masses
and stirring the derision as it fits his accord
distracting from the bigotry, the social injustice
the prejudice and animus that’s being ignored.
© Ginny Brannan 2018
I grew up in small town VT in the '60's where we watched the race riots on TV. It wasn't until I was 10 or 12 and visiting my cousin in the bigger city, that I personally saw the ignorance and animus that some felt toward others because of skin color or cultural differences. You'd think by now, 50 years later, we'd have grown past such blatant bigotry, but this "take a knee" movement has revealed what apparently has been lying just below the surface all along. I may never understand what it is like to be profiled and discriminated against because of the color of my skin, but I believe that we all deserve "equal treatment under the law,' and that our leaders should be focusing more on understanding the reasons behind the movement rather than stirring the pot with their selective ignorance, personal opinion, and inflammatory commentary.
Thank you, Mary, for stopping by and reading.
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