My Country Isn’t Me
Everyone knows that Francis Scott Key wrote America’s National Anthem a.k.a., The Star Spangled Banner. After all, he was just one of the good ole boys….you know, pro-slavery, anti-black and anti-abolitionist….in other words a racist bigot, who wrote a song that talked about freedom and bravery for all those who were NOT black. Here’s an excerpt from the song’s third stanza:
“No refuge could save the hireling and slaveFrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the graveAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth waveO’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”.
In this particular verse, Key is referring to The Corps of Colonial Marines (A group of slaves who fought with the British Army, in exchange for their freedom). As most white supremacists thought, he believed that blacks were mentally inferior to whites.
So, imagine how disgusted he was in the War of 1812, as a prisoner of the British Army, watching from one of their ships, as the Colonial Marines, showed their power as they battled against The Americans….and they were winning! He was completely disgusted….thus the inspiration behind this “Patriotic” song. Yet when peaceful protests take place across this country because of racial discrimination, police brutality and inequality, that is what this country takes issue with….My Country Isn’t Me.
Imagine being at home, eating your own food, singing your own songs and worshipping according to the spiritual beliefs that were handed down to you by your family…when suddenly without warning, you are taken from your home, from all you know and love, separated from your family and friends and brought to someone else’s home, and you’re told…YOU can’t go back!!! Then, you are picked over like you’re a piece of meat at the supermarket, being sold to the highest bidder….because you have a strong back and good teeth. If you don’t do what massa says to do….you’ll end up with more stripes on your back, then are on the flag…..That’s SLAVERY!!! My Country Isn’t Me.
Lunch counters, water fountains and buses, were marked so that “the colored” would be kept “in their place”. Houses burned…along with crosses in the front yards, churches with little girls inside….being bombed. Young boys visiting the south where family lives….wind up beaten and battered beyond recognition…because he “looked” at a white woman, open caskets so that a mother could show the world her pain. Federal marshals by executive order have to force government officials to let US have entry into their schools and still courts had to approve Affirmative action, so that WE could have an equal chance. According to The Thirteenth Amendment, we weren’t even counted as a whole person….through an interesting loop hole, the South had more power to determine, who the next massa would be…..My Country Isn’t Me.
Remember Medgar, Malcom, Martin, Trayvon, Oscar, Michael, Tamir, Philandro, Eric, Sean, Amaduo and Alton….killed for no other reason than the color of their skin, but yet when WE say that “Black Lives Matter” WE are offensive….after all, who do WE think we are to want to be treated better than a dog, how dare WE….My Country Isn’t Me.You really can’t understand, why my brothers and sisters choose not to stand, but would rather take a knee like Kap….simply because we’re tired of being treated like crap.I don’t know about you, but My Country Isn’t Me…do YOU think we’ll EVER be free???Here’s to brighter days.