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The following poem
is from the perspective of an African American at a time when
African Americans were being terrorized by white
supremacists. The author speaks to the people being killed, to
do so fighting back with dignity. White supremacists believed
that their cause was important enough, just enough, to justify
the killing of African Americans. This required an absolute commitment
to their cause, as for other reason would people kill others
in the name of a cause.
If
We Must Die
Claude McKay
If we must
die--let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die--oh, let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! |
Are you committed enough to the American occupation of Iraq
to kill others for its continuance? If so, why?
Put yourself
in the shoes of the people being killed due to the American
occupation. If Iraq were your country would you die running
or fighting?
And if an invading army was killing you, would you want to
know why the invaders were killing your country?
War is serious.
Killing
is serious. The government cannot force you to kill others
if you don't believe it's the right thing to do. Only you
can make
he serious choice to kill another person. This is true, because
you do have the option to exercise your freedom from the
draft and other forms of forced military participation. While
the
cost may be high for many Americans (highest for those with
the fewest
economic opportunities), you still have the choice to pay
the price of exercising your freedom or of killing another
human
being for an illegal war. No one but you can come to this
choice, and you along must live with your choice.
Next: Freedom from
illegal war
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