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Historical Hysterics...

Take that statue down
Don't give that man respect
He once owned a bunch of slaves
Ideology I reject

And if your name is George
Or maybe even Thomas
Your statue might be next
Hell, I'll even promise!

Hypocrites of freedom
"All men being equal"
Except if you weren't white
Then, punishment was lethal

Run away to Canada
Go out West to roam
For if you stayed in the States
You'd never own a home

No right to representation
Taxes or otherwise
They wouldn't ever let you vote
I'm telling truth, not lies

So, where does the story end?
Progress is so slow
Take down ALL the statues
Put up heroes we know

No hypocritcal bastards
Let's have champions without flaws
Who among us all
Hasn't broken God and Nature's laws?

Do we pick and choose the ones
According to our whims
Or is the truth a little colder?
History is written by who wins?

Review Request (Direction): 
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Last few words: 
So much for minimalist poetry. I had to put in the words; [ "Let's have] champions without flaws, and the word [is] in the line "History [is] written by who wins." Sheesh!
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Comments

I'm tempted to join you. maybe we could form a commune or something. Raise our own veggies and live off the land? I saw a political cartoon the other day, that shows the astronauts in the space station, saying that they weren't sure they wanted to come back to Earth. I'm feeling it! ~ Geezer.
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Glad you liked it. I tried to keep it a minimalist poem, and ran afoul of the misunderstood lines dilemma, so I made a couple of little adjustments. I don't think that it ruined it though. Thanks for the glowing review. ~ Geezer.
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author comment

You have said a mouth full or in this case a page full
Should the last line
Is history written by those who win ?
or here is another suggestion
Should hystory be written by only those who win?

Chrys

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I made an adjustment to that line. Just a little two letter word. Thanks for the read and comment. ~ Gee.
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...that George Washington is revered in the USA in spite of being a slave owner from age 11 to the day of his death, and never ever having expressed any regret - although I believe he DID cast doubts on the efficiency of the special institution. When he died there were over 300 slaves on his plantation and he "owned" well over 100 personally. It really is about time that the USA's capital city got renamed.

And, of course, you are correct: history is written by those who "win" - The Nuremberg Trials didn't mention the fire-bombing of Dresden by the RAF, the murder of 150,000 Japanese women and kiddies by the 2 A-bombs or the mass killings of Polish and Finnish patriots by Joe Stalin's orders. I wonder why not?

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

of all the hypocrisy and the name calling and error laden misconceptions. The Civil War was not just about slavery, there were many other factors involved that no one speaks of. ~ Geezer.
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...doing any name-calling or even discussing the USA Civil War. Maybe you could point out where I did that?
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xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

is most unbecoming and obvious. Did I say that you did? A sweet, young, ??? as yourself? I was referring to the current political events and protests. In among the Revolutionary War hero statues they want to take down; are the statues of Southern Generals. ~ Geezer.
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Geezer
I am not really sure what you are saying in this poem; but you seem to be saying it is hypercritical to be taking down the statues because
"No hypocritical bastards
Champions without flaws
Who among us all
Hasn't broken God and Nature's laws?"

This is not about individuals and what they did, but about an ideology of racial subjugation that still has somewhat a hold on the american culture. And it is not about having slaves, many had slaves when it was considered the prerogative of the ruling class to do so. its about the ideology institutional subjugation after the slaves were freed that these people represent. Like the exaction of the little boy accused of rape and put to death. After the latest police killing of another black man ignited world wide protest; the US (despite Trumps objection) says enough with this institution injustice.
It might be hysterics to some, but I think its about time; and I am proud of those who wants to enact change. .

T

The most powerful reaction
of mind on mind
is transference of sight

speaking of the fact that some of these statues are being taken down because they were slave owners and/or Rebel Generals. There is a statue in NY capital that stands in the front of a public building and the general was a Revolutionary War hero. [Before the advent of making slavery illegal]. They want his statue removed because he was a slave owner, pure and simple. I said that if you do that because of him, you should do it to the others too. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and many of the other so called Fathers of our country. In the preceding stanza; the lines are; "Take down ALL the statues, put up heroes we know, and then saying; " No hypocritical bastards, Champions without flaws, Who among us all, Hasn't broken God and Natures laws? What I said; was that if you are going to remove statues of slave owners, make it not just little piss-ant people that one doesn't really know, but also the creators of our nation's documents, who were hypocritical when they said that "All men are created equal". I hope that is clear enough. ~ Geezer.
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author comment

...that many American so-called heroes were slavers. It's part of your history. Pulling down a few statues dedicated to these people won't change history.

Just as in England, pulling down a statue of Churchill doesn't change the fact that he was a racist and a rather nasty human - even though an effective and inspiring war leader

xxx
Edna
Poet(ess) to the Stars

many people who live in areas with those statues see them as representations of honorable men, great military men (which they may have been that belongs in history books or articles). they revere them. one friend of a friend i was discussing this with compared the statues to being as important as concentration camps that still stand. she said people view these and get stronger. she said a lot of bullshit. put them in museums. she loves to stroll by them with her kids. stroll in a museum and if you want to teach your kids about history open a book. hopefully a book that holds the truth.

Hi Geezer
many thanks for the clarification.

T

The most powerful reaction
of mind on mind
is transference of sight

Hi, Geezer,
I was reared in a Catholic religion where there are abundant statues, and as I grew older I found adoration for them had little or nothing to do with true moral values. Not that there aren't real saints out there, but few are who we really think they are. This thought carried over to statues in general - I have never understood why we need them. We need reminders of our history, the entire history and the entire truth. (If that is even possible anymore.) Surely these people in history made such a significant stand that we don't need a monument as much as we need knowledge. I feel museums are the correct place for such statues, and I question what a person truly holds on to when these are in public places. These are my thoughts, my good friend. Your poem made me think about it even more...
Thank you!
L

have made you think about it, that was my intent. We don't need statues in politics or religion. Not that I am a religious person, but I do know that there are Commandments that say "Thou shalt not worship any before me" You shall not cause any graven images to be made. We cannot change what has happened in the past, but we CAN do better than we have. Let's not keep saying that racism and discrimination are wrong and not do anything about it. Let us acknowledge our faults in these matters and make the changes we need to. ~ Geezer.
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heard that he said that too. Hey, I'm sure that if he could have he would have and so would many others. Actually it would have solved many problems. The southern states weren't concerned about the moral aspect of slavery, just the economics of it.~ Geezer.
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There is value to commenting and critique, tell us how you feel about our work.
This must be the place, 'cause there ain't no place like this place anywhere near this place.

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