An Acceptable Dose

 An Acceptable Dose

My heart struggles hopelessly
  and is unable to reconcile
how people you know are good
  can uplift a thing so vile.
When those you know are good
  didn't just look aside
  but by their deliberate actions
  have helped that evil to rise.

What could possibly be
  in the back of their minds
  that their cruel choice
  they justify?

Is it that...

What is a little bit of racism
  when proven what a group can take?
Surely anything is an improvement
  from forced labor, brutality and rape.
Those things are way less tolerated
  but it doesn't mean racism was lost.
It just means that it is now dispensed
  into more socially “acceptable” doses.

And isn't that certainly a step up
  compared to being slaves
  and because it's not as blatant
  doesn't it make it more OK?
And...what's a little bit or racism
  after what our ancestors endured?
How dare we be so ungrateful?
How dare we strive for more?

Many former acts of horror
  that most agree were inhumane,
  were replaced by modern versions
  but their intent is quite the same.
Pointy white sheets with eye holes
  were replaced with something new.
It is by no means absolution
  showing love to a certain few.

We've had one black president
  so we've obviously come some ways.
Yet equality is a full meal
  of which we've only had a taste.
To then give someone so much power
  who discriminates based on race...
  how can you expect people of color
  to not feel dismissed and betrayed?

It poured salt on racial wounds
  that were finally starting to heal-
  as if the bonds of true community
  some never want us to feel.
A lifetime of working twice as hard
  to earn chances that some are given.
Opportunities passed right by me
  because I didn't fit the description.

Social discrepancies
  run rampant in our institutions.
Many like it just like that
  so they fight against solutions.
Should I accept racial injustice
  as just a little tick in the system
  and if it ain't as bad as slavery
  is it really worth the mention?

Does it seem more acceptable
  when by dog whistles, it's disguised?
Does it seem more acceptable
  if you can act like you're surprised?
Does it seem more acceptable
  if no one shed their blood?
Does it seem more acceptable
  for other neighborhoods?

What is that acceptable dose of racism-
  how much you think won't harm?
Where do you draw the line?
What causes your conscience alarm?

We hail our beautiful county
  as the greatest democracy.
Shouldn't that mean each citizen
  be equally safe and free?

How do you see your part?
How will you cast your vote?
How do you think you'll get me to swallow
  what you deem an acceptable dose?

"An Acceptable Dose" is an excerpt from my upcoming book.

Brief Photo Descriptions & Links

1-Middle Passage, 1518-approximately 1859
2 & 3-Laura and Lawrence Nelson, Okemah, OK, 1911
4-Willie Byrd
5 & 6-Duluth, Minnesota, 1920
7-Black Wall Street Massacre, Tulsa, Oklahoma 1921
8-Rosewood Massacare, 1923
9- Emmitt Till, 1955
10-Attempted Assassination of MLK, 1958
11-16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, 1963
12-Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner, murdered 1964
13-Assassination of Malcolm X, 1965
14-John Lewis in Selma, Alabama, 1965
15-Fred Hampton Murder, 1969
16 & 17-Rodney King Beating, 1991 (Link for second photo)
18-20-James Byrd Jr., Lynched By Dragging, 1998
21-Eric Garner, 2014
22 & 23-Charleston Church Massacre, 2015 (Link for second photo)
24-Charlottesville, VA 2017
25-Portland, Oregon, 2020
26-Say Their Name, 2020

About This Week's Post

Hello Planet Candie Visitors!

For those of you who read my posts regularly, you may be surprised that I flipped the script this week. Though I follow politics rather closely and definitely have my opinions, I had intended to not address them here. I wanted my site to be a place of spiritual uplift, inspiration and empowerment. I didn't want to alienate anyone because of my political beliefs.
What I realized was that I wasn't really being true to myself by excluding political issues. What is happening currently in our political realm effects everything. The pandemic, racism, sexism, unemployment, and so many other issues have both direct and indirect impacts on our spiritual, mental and physical well being.
It has long been my belief that we must name, then face difficult issues if we are to overcome and move past them. I included this political poem because it is too important an issue not to address before such a crucial election.

Candie

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