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CRY FOR JUSTICE
The Cherokee call it
"the trail on which we cried."
All of us since that Trail of Tears
should also cry
loudly and bitterly
for the justice denied the Cherokee
and their neighbors --
the Creek,
the Choctaw,
the Chickasaw,
and the Seminole
by the United States government.
Defying the Supreme Court
and common decency,
the President sent Federal troops
to force them from their homes
and ancestral lands,
lands then seized by white men
greedy for gold.
The Cherokee were moved west,
on foot or horseback,
in wagons or boats,
through summers deadly drought
and winters icy wickedness.
One of every four who began that journey
from their Smoky Mountain homes
never reached its end
in Indian Territory.
They lie buried along that trail
where the Cherokee cried.
What horrors are wrought by
arrogance,
fear, and
prejudice.
Never again, we think. Not in our country!
But, a century later, a different President
bowed to the power of
arrogance,
fear, and
prejudice
and issued an Executive Order:
"All persons of Japanese ancestry are to be removed from the West
Coast
and relocated inland...."
Twenty-four hours later,
immigrant and citizen alike
were moved east.
By train, bus or truck
carrying what little they could
they were taken to internment camps
where water and human kindness
were scarce.
Not all survived that journey either.
Their prosperous farms, orchards,
fishing fleets, and businesses,
left behind on the Pacific coast,
were taken over by
jealous, round-eyed neighbors.
For this injustice, too,
let us cry
angrily and bitterly,
loud and long
so it will never happen again.
For, if it does,
who will be the next to know
the power of
arrogance,
fear, and
prejudice?
illegal immigrants?
people of color?
poor people?
the uneducated?
homosexuals?
conservatives? liberals?
Democrats? Republicans? Independents?
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or Catholics?
you? Or me?
Cry! Cry out!
Cry out aloud for justice,
For justice denied to anyone
means none of us are safe!
4 Sept 2010 - mshr
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