David X Novak
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The Fragile Ego

6/30/2017

 
“[I]t was probably difficult for whites to admit that an African had taught them anything, for the slave’s Africanness was a crucial element, so the rationale went, of his or her enslavement as an inferior.” (Sterling Stuckey)
The trend continues, does it not,
As whites may shit, but off the pot
And leave more than their tweets behind— 
A mess to the unborn consigned.

It shamed them that “dark Afric’s son”
Knew more than they themselves had known
Of how civilian government
Functions: they mocked their president,

Then voted in a white buffoon
To show how white men call the tune,
And, lest incompetence arise
Declared that men must close their eyes.

Free speech—the press was stripped away;
Voting rights—rolls were purged that day;
And, to ensure “alternative fact”
Be kowtowed to—the court was stacked.

Ah, white man, such a tender skin,
How did you let it get so thin?
Believing white makes right, to twist
Fragility supremacist.

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