On Acknowledging And Responding To An African-American Student’s Comment Hey, VZ, Don’t You Know That Way Back In The Day, You Probably Would’ve Been One Of Those Cracker Slave-Owning White Guys, You Know, Everybody Would Be Doing It, That’s The Way It Was, So, So Would’ve You?
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I.
Yes, Jason, it’s true.
I could’ve been that way, it’s
true.
Yes, I’m Dutch and some Dutch
did brisk business in bodies and
souls.
I could’ve done that too.
But don’t think that I could
NOT have been one of those
Abolitionist white guys, that I
couldn’t have fought against
slavery.
And don’t think that just because
I’m white
I’m here to do you
wrong.
Now. Today. These days.
Because just because I’m
white
doesn’t mean I should
glad-hand a bigot,
should I, Justin?
II.
A Thought-Provoker In Return
VZ: Jason--Matt over here will confirm
this--
Did you know there were a few,
not
many but a few, black men in America
who
owned slaves?
JASON, incredulous:
Now
why on earth would a black man
EVER
want to own slaves?
VZ: Money, Jason, money.
The
slaves made people richer.
And
Jason, there’s another
question
you could ask too:
Why
would any person judge
any
other based on color
and
not the content
of
that person’s
character?
Van Zant has taught near-dropouts for 14 years and has written many other poems related to students in his alternative school--white, black and Hispanic (dysfunctionality knows no racial boundaries).
Copyright © 2000 Frank Van Zant. All rights reserved.
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