Miami School Bans Inaugural Poem

[Rebound]

A poem read by Amanda Gorman at President Biden’s inauguration has been banned by a Miami high school after ONE parent complained about it. By way of context, this was two weeks after the January 6 riots.
 

Text of poem below. What is there to complain about? Why is Florida afraid of free speech?

 

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promised glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Rebound

[Michael Hardner]

Well, let's take a 10,000 foot view here: seems like a school made a mistake in "banning" this, if indeed it's true.

I would be in favour of using this anecdote, but only using it against people who try to provide the wider case by anecdotes.  ie. The next time somebody says "All immigration is bad because an illegal Mexican killed somebody" then just take out this example and they will quietly leave the forum.

Or something.

[Rebound]

14 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Well, let's take a 10,000 foot view here: seems like a school made a mistake in "banning" this, if indeed it's true.

I would be in favour of using this anecdote, but only using it against people who try to provide the wider case by anecdotes.  ie. The next time somebody says "All immigration is bad because an illegal Mexican killed somebody" then just take out this example and they will quietly leave the forum.

Or something.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna85935
 

It’s on many networks. 

[Michael Hardner]

18 minutes ago, Rebound said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna85935
 

It’s on many networks. 

Ok, it's true.  Aside from being a typically shitty American poem I don't see what is wrong with it.  The schools owes an explanation of the complaint and rationale.

[Rebound]

14 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Ok, it's true.  Aside from being a typically shitty American poem I don't see what is wrong with it.  The schools owes an explanation of the complaint and rationale.

You can see by reading the poem that there is no justification for banning it. Here in America we have the First Amendment.  

[Michael Hardner]

15 minutes ago, Rebound said:

You can see by reading the poem that there is no justification for banning it. Here in America we have the First Amendment.  

Well I don't see why it was banned, but we at least have to ask.

[Deluge]

2 hours ago, Rebound said:

A poem read by Amanda Gorman at President Biden’s inauguration has been banned by a Miami high school after ONE parent complained about it. By way of context, this was two weeks after the January 6 riots.
 

Text of poem below. What is there to complain about? Why is Florida afraid of free speech?

 

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promised glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

 

I stopped reading the second it talked about a skinny black girl descending from slaves. 

This is just CRT disguised as poetry. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Deluge

[Michael Hardner]

17 minutes ago, Deluge said:

I stopped reading the second it talked about a skinny black girl descending from slaves. 

This is just CRT disguised as poetry. 

It's a bad poem, granted, but would you ban it ?

[Deluge]

1 minute ago, Michael Hardner said:

It's a bad poem, granted, but would you ban it ?

Yes, because it's CRT. That shit belongs in universities, not high schools. 

[Rebound]

42 minutes ago, Deluge said:

I stopped reading the second it talked about a skinny black girl descending from slaves. 

This is just CRT disguised as poetry. 

So now Florida has a “don’t say black” law as well? They are literally banning people from saying they are black?  
 

Besides saying who she is… the only policy she’s referring to is opportunity, right? Isn’t that the American dream? The poem doesn’t mention special opportunities or anything like that. She’s just remarking on the fact that she was able to speak at a Presidential inauguration. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Rebound

[Deluge]

6 minutes ago, Rebound said:

So now Florida has a “don’t say black” law as well?

I don't know, do they? I've never heard of any law that says "don't say black". 

[Michael Hardner]

42 minutes ago, Deluge said:

Yes, because it's CRT. That shit belongs in universities, not high schools. 

Well they added it to the middle school library but your interest in banning a poem that mentions racism is pretty remarkable, at least to me.  

I just searched your posts and you've never been against cancel culture or censorship that I can see, so points for consistency.

[Deluge]

1 minute ago, Michael Hardner said:

Well they added it to the middle school library but your interest in banning a poem that mentions racism is pretty remarkable, at least to me.  

I just searched your posts and you've never been against cancel culture or censorship that I can see, so points for consistency.

Well, as an American, "I look to the future" without any remorse from a long dead past. I regret decisions I have made, not what America's distant ancestors have made. 

Perhaps this little race hustler should look within before she tries to stare holes through others, and for what, misdeeds they committed from over 150 years ago? There's no such thing. 

No, this poem, is politically charged and it needs to be removed from all public schools. Let college students deal with that shit - they're old and mature enough to know how to deal with it. 

[Michael Hardner]

2 minutes ago, Deluge said:

1. Well, as an American, "I look to the future" without any remorse from a long dead past. I regret decisions I have made, not what America's distant ancestors have made. 

2. Perhaps this little race hustler should look within before she tries to stare holes through others, and for what, misdeeds they committed from over 150 years ago? There's no such thing. 

3. No, this poem, is politically charged and it needs to be removed from all public schools. Let college students deal with that shit - they're old and mature enough to know how to deal with it. 

1. Fair enough.
2. Well, she didn't get in trouble or anything.  And the poem wasn't banned just moved to a different grade section of the library.
3. I think you can teach middle schoolers about social issues, but it seems you don't.  This is an opinion thing.

[herbie]

4 hours ago, Deluge said:

I stopped reading the second it talked about a skinny black girl descending from slaves. 

Well aren't you the typical bigot. You didn't read Kipling because Gunga Din wasn't white, eh?

[CrakHoBarbie]

4 hours ago, Deluge said:

Yes, because it's CRT. That shit belongs in universities, not high schools. 

So everything that hurts your widdy white feelings is now CRT?

Such a profoundly stupid statement. 

 

[Rebound]

5 hours ago, Deluge said:

Well, as an American, "I look to the future" without any remorse from a long dead past. I regret decisions I have made, not what America's distant ancestors have made. 

Perhaps this little race hustler should look within before she tries to stare holes through others, and for what, misdeeds they committed from over 150 years ago? There's no such thing. 

No, this poem, is politically charged and it needs to be removed from all public schools. Let college students deal with that shit - they're old and mature enough to know how to deal with it. 

It is words, written on paper.

Middle school kids can whip out their iPhones and type in “transgender porn” or “lesbian porn” and watch all they want.  So how does banning a poem or a book help children?  The only real outcome is that more kids will read the banned stuff.  
 

How about the Koran? Should they ban that? Or the Hebrew Bible? Or the Catholic Bible? The Bhagavad Gita?  Or the novel Roots? 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Rebound

[Hodad]

Eh, it's Florida. They are probably just offended that any poetry is in schools. It is the gayest form of written communication, after all.?

But seriously, Republican presidential candidate DeSantis is doing his damnedest to create a state in which ideas outside of white, heteronormative, heterodoxy cannot be spoken in schools. Small government, and all...

Edited May 24, 2023 by Hodad

[robosmith]

11 hours ago, Deluge said:

Well, as an American, "I look to the future" without any remorse from a long dead past. I regret decisions I have made, not what America's distant ancestors have made. 

Perhaps this little race hustler should look within before she tries to stare holes through others, and for what, misdeeds they committed from over 150 years ago? There's no such thing. 

No, this poem, is politically charged and it needs to be removed from all public schools. Let college students deal with that shit - they're old and mature enough to know how to deal with it. 

If you believe the "misdeeds" associated with slavery STOPPED "over 150 years ago" then you are DELUGINAL.

Or completely IGNORANT of Jim Crow and other laws which persisted until the '60s.  See "Slavery by Another Name."

[WestCanMan]

It was only banned because someone called it a poem. That's a crime against literacy. 

If they called it "a bunch of words haphazardly strewn together" then it would have been ok.

If you like things like that, just go on Chat GPT and ask it to write 100 lines that don't rhyme, each of them between 4 and 24 syllables long, with a message that's divisive, disingenuous and inane. 

Here's a song that I bet you'll love:

For real, this "song" has over 100M downloads on Spotify. This is what can happen to your kids if you start calling wordbarf "poetry".

 

 

TBH, maybe it was banned because someone made it on Chat GPT, with the instructions I mentioned, and tried to pretend that they wrote it themself. Theoretically they're finding a way to track down "homework" that was done by Chat GPT. 

[Michael Hardner]

WCM is right, it's a bad poem 

[OftenWrong]

Seems a bit long.

[Deluge]

10 hours ago, robosmith said:

If you believe the "misdeeds" associated with slavery STOPPED "over 150 years ago" then you are DELUGINAL.

Or completely IGNORANT of Jim Crow and other laws which persisted until the '60s.  See "Slavery by Another Name."

Jim Crow is ALL democrat ALL the time. Are you racists finally admitting that you long for the days of 19th century slavery? 

[CrakHoBarbie]

2 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

WCM is right, it's a bad poem 

If we banned all "bad" poetry....... That would effectively ban all poetry. S/

Edited May 25, 2023 by CrakHoBarbie

[Deluge]

15 hours ago, Rebound said:

It is words, written on paper.

Middle school kids can whip out their iPhones and type in “transgender porn” or “lesbian porn” and watch all they want.  So how does banning a poem or a book help children?  The only real outcome is that more kids will read the banned stuff.  
 

How about the Koran? Should they ban that? Or the Hebrew Bible? Or the Catholic Bible? The Bhagavad Gita?  Or the novel Roots? 

So because little kids can whip out their iPhones and type in "transgender porn" we should exacerbate the problem by letting woke activists place CRT into their schools? 

No. There's a reason you people need to be shut down at every turn, and that is because your ideas all bad all of the time. 

Nope. We don't ban the Christian Bible because we're a Christian nation.

1 minute ago, CrakHoBarbie said:

If we banned all "bad" poetry....... That would effectively ban all poetry. S/

Bad poetry is fine. CRT is what needs to be banned.