I use to love Abraham Lincoln
Mr. honest Abe

I thought he was the greatest president to ever live, Pre Obama of course
Anytime the discussion of presidents would arise I would, unafraid and with great pride, throw his name in range
Not once did anyone object or challenge me
No president has done anything greater than him
After all He freed us
Without him people with my complexion would still be in bondage like circus animals waiting to perform countless unpaid tricks

He was the white savior my ancestors sung praises to and cried out for
He rescued them from iron chains and with the stroke of his pen he changed an entire nation
Started a war for what he believed in
That’s the type of man I wanted to be
A man willing to start a war in order to protect his own beliefs

I wasn’t the only one telling of his great deeds
The elementary, middle, and high schools curriculum didn’t miss a chance to mention him and what he did
Anytime slavery in this country was talked about President Lincoln’s name came up
He was mentioned more times than the 200 years of pain inflected on my people in this country
Every black kid in America knows about the Emancipation Proclamation and how Abraham Lincoln’s signature caused a shift in the tide of this nation with the 13th amendment
Abraham Lincoln was sketched in my mind with the other few names that may have been revealed when discussing slavery

But then everything changed after I took the time to read the 13th amendment for myself

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, excpet as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction

At first I missed it but
I began to chop down this false reality like I was chopping down cherry trees
With these trees I started building my own cabin of truth
I finally was able to see

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT
now pay attention because this is when it all makes sense
As a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction

My heart broke as my cabin came crashing down as the ground began to shake
If you commit a crime, and you are convicted of that crime, then you become a slave
This means that my great grandparents aren’t the only slaves in my family tree
my
brother, my mother, my uncle, my aunt, my cousins have all been slaves
some are slaves right now at this exact moment
hell some of you reading this are slaves
Slavery was never abolished just transformed and perfected
Everything is completely clear now that the fog has lifted
It makes sense why the jail cells are overflowing with bodies
 the system isn’t broke
its working perfectly
This is the reason why nothing appears to be changing
Shit now they don’t even care if we make it to the plantation

My outlook on Abraham Lincoln is completely different
Hell my outlook on America is completely different
The land of the free
No, the land they took for free

If the seed of the plant is infected then no matter how high the plant grows it has no choice but to be infected as well
The weeds have overgrown and no one is looking to pay a yard man to cut them down

Slave catchers turned to police officers
the hangman were black robes now
the system doing exactly what it was designed to do
and we all can thank Abraham Lincoln
The man who set me “free”

Writer X