Ron DeSantis has stated, so it must be true,
Slaves were given quite useful vocations to do.
When freed, they could use these nice skills they’d received
To build useful lives, all their burdens relieved!
So let’s give a great cheer for the owners of slaves,
And the good deeds they did for those out-of-work knaves!
The lucky folks, seized so they’d never more roam,
Were much better off than those left back at home.
For those seized, lucky souls, would gain skills, would be trained —
At least those who survived, at least those who remained.
Of the 12 million chained in those lovely ships’ holds,
Perhaps 10 million made it in time to be sold!
From the start of the slave trade — 1525 —
'Til the day Lincoln freed them, many million slaves died.
Almost all slaves, excluding those who took flight,
Would never see freedom or its holy light.
Most slaves were forbidden to read or to write,
But they certainly worked, so DeSantis is right!
Most worked picking cotton, tobacco all day,
While a few lucky souls got to cook, clean and pray.
These lucky slaves lacked all the burdens of life,
Like the need to take care of a child or a wife.
Because a slave’s loves might be sold, sent away,
She could easily focus — just work and obey!
And that’s just what DeSantis demands for today.
“Work hard and be careful, and watch what you say!
“Don't teach of a system designed to oppress.
“Such ideas you’re no longer allowed to express!”
Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl is the former deputy inspector general for inspections at the Central Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze.”
