How can you lament the absence of what's never been?
You overlook this nation's past, the natives slaughtered,
Shackled slaves, the soldiers turned on striking workers,
People turned away from polls, and muzzled speakers,
Riots against immigrants, the coups, the wars, assassinations,
Occupations, torture cells. Tell me when this vile nation
Ever stood for anything, the justice, peace, equality you want
To claim have disappeared. The truth is that they never were.
The ugliness we're facing now is what we've always known.