Inheritance of Inequality
A Polemic in Free Verse
They say, Truth and Reconciliation
Are the way forward,
To right the wrongs of the past —
Reconciliation, really?
That unrepentant acceptance
That empty affirmation
Of all the wrongs committed?
An acceptance that fails
to comprehend
The fruit of all the wronging
of the past
The insidious inheritance
of inequality
The hoarding of opportunity
unconsciously
Heirs enjoying their privilege
without remorse
Or maybe there is remorse,
and understanding
Yet without redemption,
and without correction
Lost in a sea of red herrings,
conveniently tossed
Into a colossal swamp
of apathy and inhumanity —
“But those who wronged, are long gone
I did not do it, I am not a bad person
I understand and deplore the injustice
But the past is the past, unchangeable”
Yet, the fruits of the past
are everywhere
We savor that inheritance of privilege
every day
How do we reconcile the injustice
of the present
How do we ignore the unfairness
of our legacy
“But what about merit, do we ignore it?
Do we compromise on merit for redemption?
Are we not solving a problem and creating another?
Would we not sacrifice merit at the altar of redemption?”
Opportunity gives merit
a running start
The race is lost
before it has even begun
Yes, never mar the race,
but tell me,
Why are the runners
always the same?
“But should opportunity be a zero sum game?
Do we sacrifice privilege for redemption?
Won’t we just create a new inequality?
A cascading unfairness of cause and effect?”
Zero sum is zero sum
Bring more runners, instead
To pave the path to redemption
in fairness
Not by robbing from one
to appease another
But in an equality of promise
for everyone
“But what about competition and winning?
Doesn’t equality of opportunity dilute drive?
Won’t there still be the undriven, the unmotivated?
Won’t it be worse when opportunity is cheap?”
Is that not but natural law?
The sieve of a fair society
Sorting the willing and able
For the rest to fall thus lightly
into the caring arms of compassion
And so redeemed, to march
hope-filled into the morrow
© Unni Nambiar (April 24th 2021)
