Are you thinking what we’re thinking?
Let’s discuss - I have an inkling
The answer will be no
But there’s no thought crime
So think it in your own time
It’s what you say that counts
Let’s start with this:
Is it racist, to insist
On “wanting to hate all black women”?
Black, and female, that’s your list
Racist, surely, and misogynist
No ambiguity, no equivocation
If you say you’re sorry, will that do?
Even if you’re only sorry for being “rude”
Ignoring - or denying - the point
Likewise, are transphobic jokes
OK with folks
Unless the wrong person hears?
And is it politicians’ job
To scaremonger about the mob?
Inflaming, instead of calming
It is OK, on camera, to be quiescent
While the person stood adjacent
Declares a nazi a hero?
Or to call little boats swarms?
Distorting truth, and stretching norms
Saying the previously unsayable
If you declare “I’m not a racist”
Does that mean you pass the test?
Even if you speak and act like one?
When red wall populists claim to
Merely articulate the prejudices ordinary folks cling to
Who’s being insulted?
It doesn’t say much for their view on ethnicity or sexuality
But there’s the added practicality
Of impugning entire communities as bigots
My hunch is
The north is
Full of nice people too
Who don’t need condescending manipulation
Endeavouring to implicate them
In a largely fabricated culture war
Because hate is not a valid feature
Of fear of the future
Or resentment about the present
Islamophobic
Transphobic
Misogynist
Antisemitic
Homophobic
And racist
These are
No more
Than big words for small minds
Is it ok, to turn your face away
Ignoring this part of what they say
Because it suits your pocket?
Or to give them your tacit support
By voting for the hating sort?
I think not
(C) PolemicAlex 2024