Page 20 - poetrybook

The Confederate Redress

On the Ocassion of the Ohio Hanging
Many scores ago there was born an evil among us. Now we are engaged in a
continued Great War of memories, monuments and terrorism, testing whether this
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on
a great battlefield of symbols, where images, language and stories are weaponized
to protect ideology of white supremacy, to inspire identification and mark territory.
Many lives and liberties have been lost, and communities terrorized under the
.enduring legacy of the Confederacy. Now we must bring forth the balance of justice

The Confederate flag, as representative of the Confederate States of America
and its constitution shall hang for the crimes of Treason and promotion and
.protection of Slavery

The Confederate flag, as representative of Southern Pride and Heritage shall hang
.for the crimes of Terrorism and promotion of White Supremacy

The Confederate flag shall hang as an acknowledgement of the trauma and pain
caused to the African American Experience and its peoples by the Confederacy and
.its protectors and promoters

The Confederate flag shall hang as an affirmation that the South shall never rise
.again among us in body or soul

The Confederate flag shall hang as an act of closure, as an act of justice, as an act
of moral redress, in the recurring nightmare of an incredibly divisive chapter in
.American History, forging new ground for healing and forgiveness

To move forward together, it is time for us, in this very belated moment, to condemn
this troubled flag to death, and search within our creative essence for new life, new
symbols and new stories that shall rise up from a deeply scarred past of oppression
and opprobrium into a space of redemption and rebirth that honors and protects
.peace, liberty and justice for us all

’John Sims, 2017
Adapted from his text, The Gettysburg Redress, 2004

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