When Will We End the Hypocrisy?
by Ernie McCray
We Americans can be so hypocritical,
going on and on
about values such as standing up for what’s right,
and then our kids
such as those who have
taken to the streets,
protesting
what they see happening
before their very eyes,
like the genocide
against Palestinians in Gaza
who have no place to hide,
and, instead of us encouraging them
and praising them
for addressing issues such as this
in a peaceful manner
that’s in accord with their right
to assemble and express
their views,
the police are beckoned
and rush onto the scene violently,
demonstrating
practices that, overtime,
have become the “American Way,”
although their behavior
is about as Un-American as it gets
if our so-called American principles
are truly correct.
And, in complete disregard
of what these students are going through
as they empathize
and sympathize
with a people under siege,
our country’s Speaker of the House
says to them, rather tersely:
“Go back to class. Stop wasting your parents’ money.”
And that begs the question:
When will we every create the kind of society
we profess to be,
bringing an end to the hypocrisy
in which we’ve engaged
throughout our history?
