All lives

They beat the slaves 

And raped the housekeepers

Then they kept their children away

As if their own despicable actions weren't inheritable

But the melanin rich skin could soil their lily-white hatred.

First they used

Then they abused

And to justify their aggression

They preached supremacy

And black lives were oppressed

Devalued, degraded, defaced. 

They mocked the people 

(Forced to smile at their master's cruelty)

By painting their milky faces and burning blacks alive. 

And when the panthers fought back

They called them violent animals

And accused them of counterfeit crimes. 

Subversively they taught the people of colour

To play the white game or be shot.

Lack of opportunity was 'their own fault'

And systemic discrimination meant

'try harder', 'be whiter'

But the rules didn't allow for winning. 

If the white people were outdone, it was 'affirmative action'.

So they learned being voiceless was less dangerous

Than making the white people uncomfortable, or afraid, or sorry.

They died by the hundreds and the thousands

And their outrage was drowned out by the pale faces

Screaming 'So what? People die'

So their guilt wouldn't seep out and turn into compassion

So that they wouldn't feel responsible to change 

The system that validated the prejudice

That kept them in power. 

The pale faces were louder

when they shouted 

'all lives matter'

Because they didn't want to be blamed

For the fact that black lives did not matter for so long.