First They Said ~ Alice Walker

But we knew how well we had treated them

and knew we were not savages.

They they said we were immoral.

But we knew minimal clothing

Did not equal immoral.

Next, they said our race was inferior.

But we knew our mothers

and we knew that our race

was not inferior.

After that, they said we were

a backward people.

But we knew our fathers

and knew we were not backward.

So, then they said we were

obstructing Progress.

But we knew the rhythm of our days

and knew that we were not obstructing Progress.

Eventually, they said the truth is that you eat

too much and your villages take up too much

of the land. But we knew we and our children

were starving and our villages were burned

to the ground. So we knew we were not eating

too much or taking up too much of the land.

Finally, they had to agree with us.

They said: You are right. It is not your savagery

or your immorality or your racial inferiority or

your people’s backwardness or your obstructing of

Progress or your appetite or your infestation of the land

that is at fault. No. What is at fault

is your existence itself.

Here is money, they said. Raise an army

among your people, and exterminate

yourselves.

– Alice Walker