Ms. Williams’ words provide all of us with “Confederate Blood” who are offended by and ashamed of our common heritage a way to respond to those who find this legacy worth celebrating and honoring. Our past is shameful, hurtful, treasonous, foul. Ms. Williams shares that blood–and teaches all of us how to stand up, push back, and refute the ridiculous assertions made by racists over our Confederate history.
“I have rape-colored skin. My light-brown-blackness is a living testament to the rules, the practices, the causes of the Old South.”
Later:
“I am a black, Southern woman, and of my immediate white male ancestors, all of them were rapists. My very existence is a relic of slavery and Jim Crow.”
From the first paragraph, this is a stunning piece of writing. Celebrate this poet’s viewpoint, white people. Bow down in honor and thank this writer for offering us a more powerful voice.