Righting American History

America's had lots of heroes through the years Helping the world overcome many fears Humankind hasn't always been kind Look closely at history, see what you find Our founders succeeded and failed many ways People of color not treated fairly those early days Three fifths a human is a void left incomplete An error future generations destined to repeat Indigenous people's abuse not a matter of pride Devastation of natives a story history did hide The Iroquois Confederacy gave us our republic's design Its novel concept: states and nation's powers align All of which helped founders form this great nation We repaid this gift by invoking near annihilation The Statue of Liberty invited all to come in Remember our promise once again can begin Supremacy, Eugenics, Ethnic biases towards the other Can result in policies separating a child from a mother In the last great war the Japanese here were incarcerated Their concentration camps long since have been eliminated Still the attitudes of ethnic discrimination persist We always fall prey to what we resist Much that hurts you is what you don't know Amazing how deep "Bigoted Suffrage Suppression" did go All minorities' suffering here has been vast Here's how it plays out in the recent past: 1920: Women first get to vote 1924: Native Americans first get to vote 1943: Chinese citizens first get to vote 1946: Asian Indian citizens first get to vote 1950: Asian native born first get to vote 1952: Japanese citizens first get to vote 1965: African Americans first get to vote Bigotry is deeper and bigger than you knew Power and domination over others does not make right Today, we must deal with all minorities' plight It's our nation's unrealized promise that all will be free Our union depends on the promise that we all can be Created equal is what makes us all as one When we get there as a nation, our work will be done Every great society has dark secrets untoward Looking back helps us see our way forward This is why truth always makes a difference Lost civilization's ethics is their lasting evidence America's still young as history does show Compassion and integrity will light where we go