Going Home

I found Qwo-Li's poem really interesting because it seems to so succinctly describe his feelings and frustrations about the removal. It is an event that has not ever been treated as the monstrosity that it was. We seem too ready to just let the problems of the past fade away, rather than accepting that they happened and dealing with their aftermath.
In class, some have questioned Qwo-Li's anger, but I think it is more healthy to speak as you feel, rather than leave your rage bottled up. Besides that, he is rightly angry. The Trail of Tears and the other injustices perpetrated by European Americans are simply wrong. There is no way to justify the forced removal of thousands of people (Which our country did). Any more than there is a way to justify the enslavement of millions of fellow human beings (Which our country also did). We need to look at our country's history and try and understand the wrongs done, rather than just ignore or try to rationalize them.