Like you didn’t think Jefferson Davis was an 80s rock band
Like they stand for anything
Like they don’t mean something
Like there’s no difference between saying “My life matters, you’re treating me like it doesn’t” and saying “My race is superior to yours and all other races”
Like some of them were good people
Like we’ve ever been in the business of honoring our vanquished foes
Like there’s glory in that flag
Like there’s glory in that south
Like they’re beautiful
Like Black isn’t beautiful
Like I’m not writing with this with my teeth gritted & Nina Simone playing at top volume
Like we need them to remember
Like being worried you might forget about slavery isn’t its own privilege
Like Black people might accidently forget that slavery happened or
how you really feel
Like racism is a character flaw we should overlook
Like the Civil War was a minor disagreement
Like the outcome was ambiguous
Like you don’t want a nigger
Like Beyoncé isn’t real
Like there aren’t history books
Like those men are heroes
Like you aren’t the replacements
Like maybe you have a point
Like white supremacy is a possibility
any open-minded, thinking person ought consider
Like there are pros and cons to be weighed
Like race isn’t a con
Like white isn’t simply the absence of color
Like white is a solution
Like Black men aren’t out here getting shot or incarcerated
Like Black blood didn’t water your poplar trees
Like tiki torches are threatening
Like you aren’t crying white tears on Youtube
Like Carolyn Bryant wasn’t lying
Like Black girls aren’t magic
Like you ain’t scared
Like Curry ain’t shit
Like you ain’t still mad about Obama
Like Black Twitter isn’t just Twitter
Like there’s a white Whitney Houston
Like you invented jazz
Like hip-hop didn’t happen
Like you know how to rap
Like you don’t love Denzel Washington
Like your wives are satisfied
Like your husbands are
Like you don’t watch Scandal
Like we aren’t post-Michael Jackson
Like we aren’t out here reclaiming our time
Like you aren’t out here looking stupid
Like we haven’t already had this conversation
full ashtrays 