I am posting this again, today, because I wrote this before this...

I am posting this again, today, because I wrote this before this new unrest, before these riots, this anger and frustration. I am posting it again, this typewriter series #2977 because more people should see how I feel, because I am ashamed of the 400+ years of oppression and mistreatment my race has inflicted on other races. I am posting it so you’ll share it, as step one in being more active and vocal about changing things. I will not ask people of color how I can help, because it’s not their job to tell me, to coach me, it’s my work to do. All I can say is, enough. Please, share this.

.

White man with an axe

Swinging at men like they

Are firewood.

Calm down, said they,

it’s ok, it’s ok.

Cops never even reached

For their guns.

.

Black man on a jog,

chased down like hare,

like quarry for the

camouflaged Confederates,

calling themselves law.

No one bothered to tell them

they lost the war.

.

White man with assault rifle,

talked down like child,

painted in the press as

Mentally Ill, sick and in need of help.

Gently they held his hands

behind his back,

watch your head, said they

before closing the door.

.

Black man with cell phone

made perforated

by itchy trigger finger and

inferiority complex,

he matched a description,

said they, as badges and

pistols were handed back.

Shine your medals, let them

catch the sun.

.

Slavery never disappeared,

it was just marketed better,

handcuffs in place of chains,

penal system as plantation,

still they fear the whip,

still they cower.

.

I am ashamed

of the color of my

skin.

.

-Tyler Knott Gregson-

(at Helena, Montana)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2pIvslDNr/?igshid=1k07s7k4gubl7