400 Years Poem by Grant House

'I can't breathe, ' he said repeatedly.
He called for his mother. He said, 'Please.'
400 years
The knee on the neck
In all its perverse manifestations
From the first slave ship
To this day
And, tomorrow
And, the day after that
400 years
When will this end

This murder was perpetrated not just by a white man with a badge
But also by a centuries-old system of violence and injustice, subjugation, privilege and domination
The law of the land
The Constitution itself
Empowered this fearful, twisted superiority
Broken Treaties
Lies
Deception

It is how the first peoples had their lands stolen
It is how, after emancipation, the free Northwest black pioneers and farmers had their hard-won right to vote and their citizenship after years of holding office and active participation in civic affairs ripped from their hands and from future generations losing their own land and rights under the knee of the entitled

Recognizing that there are police departments
and sworn officers that are making headway toward better relations and mutual respect in their communities
There is a deep, seemingly impervious culture of policing in America
Grounded in violence and bigotry
Taught and handed down
Generation after generation
From plantation militias and lynch mobs
To the majority of the over 1000 killings each year committed by police officers inflicted on black and brown people out of all proportion to their percentage of the population

So much has never been caught on video
Can you imagine how much suffering that has been and continues to be

Hysterical threats in a park calling lethal forces to put the African American in his place
Shots through a window
Murderous break ins
Shots in the back
Sanitized police reports
Brutal beatings
Daily insults and intimidation

400 years
Of bias, prejudice, and discrimination in
Education
Finance
Housing
Employment
Healthcare
Enfranchisement to vote - the great disenfranchisement
Justice and Policing

The 400 year knee on the neck

I can't breathe
Mama
Please

400 years
Enough