I Have Just Reread Leaves Of Grass Poem by Raymond Farrell

I have just reread Leaves of Grass
It oozes optimism as to the future
And the America that was going to be
But even at the time it was written
One must stop, and ponder
Even though the Blacks were freed
Whitman himself was against giving them the vote
And then (perhaps less now)
The question of the Native people
Loomed large
Countless treaties signed (but never kept)
And the ink scarcely dry
Were they, the Natives optimistic
Having had their lives upended
Their way of life destroyed
And their land stolen
No
The optimism was reserved
For the White elite
There was an Elite within the White elite
But Whites formed the elite
And when there is an elite
Based on race
Strive as you might
You will never
Have a true democracy or meritocracy
To show for it.