History Often Repeats Itself (when Ignorance is in Control)

Let us look back to the days before our birth

When many people in our country were not free

When enslaved men, women, and children

Were brutalized and treated worse than dogs

When learning to read and write was a crime

When coming together as a group was punishable by imprisonment or death

When singing was cause for speculation

And a preaching black man was cause for alarm

Keep the black man down was the idea of the time

for he may be out to cause you harm

Don't let him rise because he may rise above you

Don't let him learn, for he may overtake you

Don't give him any power or allow him to ask any questions

Leaders didn't want to have to answer for anything much less be proven wrong

These were the beliefs, practices, and customs of our country

Less than two centuries ago

A brief history lesson for those of you who don't know

Because if we don't learn from our mistakes, history, yes, even the worst of it

Often repeats itself.

Now let us look to the present day

When leaders are wary of a group of people who don't agree with them

When attacks are made on those who question authority

Instead of simply answering the questions of those who want to know

When leaders limit the awareness of people, as it's dangerous - for them- if the people learn too much

Speaking out, congregating in groups, or following a different belief system

is punishable by imprisonment

and pretty much everything imaginable is cause for alarm

Keep the man who looks different from you down is the idea of the day

for he may be out to cause you harm

and the list of comparisons goes on and on

Apparently, our history teachers

Have not been doing their jobs

Because it seems to me that history is certainly repeating itself

It makes me wonder if our leaders even know their history?

For eventually, the oppressed man rose above his oppressor

And took the freedom that rightfully belonged to him

and it stands to reason, that those who are currently oppressed

by Big Brother's watchful eye

will rise above their oppression as well

and take back the freedom that rightfully belongs to them

Jennifer 11-1-06