Remi Kanaz (Poem): Hurricane Racism

Hurricane Racism

My people and I were left to die
To wonder why nobody cared about our lives
We are not occupied in Palestine
We are not confined in Iraq, Afghanistan or another land with US forces
We are Americans
Left to understand why officials didn’t hurry in the name of US security

Five-year old boys sat on rooftops in destroyed cities
With no committee overseeing their tragedy
Seen as looters
As the US writes off the casualties
Don’t get mad at me for stealing bread and water
I was trying to feed my daughter

When our president slaughtered us in five days of silence
He spoke of the guns and violence
But he didn’t listen to our sirens on that Friday

Help! Help!
Katrina is headed our way!
Six days passed before the Command-in-Chief examined the scene
For photo ops showing off his sensitivity

This is not just a mistake or classism
This happened because George Bush and his axemen drove on racism
Encased in policy that led to this atrocity
I don’t need to see the autopsy
Our government was the cause of death
The levies were left underfunded
And as our society was bludgeoned
They summoned more troops for war
More tax cuts for rich gluts
More luck and hope for the white upper class

Yes our skin is black!
And while they weren’t wearing white hoods
We witnessed the same bloodbath

You think the aftermath would look the same
If we were home on the range in a poor white area?
Hysteria would have set in that Monday morning
Sending all the red, white and blue storming
But we’re not white, we’re not rich, and we were left to die
Being poor, black, and uncared for is our only crime

It is racism, in a nation that claims to be a democracy
And justice for all
Now that is a mockery