Page 21 - poetrybook
P. 21

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

 18                                                                     19
   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26