We wave banners
branded by bleeding
on cardboard crusades
dressed in stars,
stripes, slogans
naming scapegoats

Banners unfurled
stitched and stamped
in rival colors
flutter over fences
we built to divide

It’s time to surrender
certainty for truth
return to the colors
of liberty and justice
for all

Naming Scapegoats

The ancient practice of scapegoating never disappeared. We still search for simple explanations when faced with complicated problems. Economic struggles, political division, and social change rarely have a single cause, yet we often reduce them to one person, one group, or one movement. Simple stories are easier to understand, easier to repeat, and easier to fit on a sign.

The problem is that removing a scapegoat rarely solves the underlying issue. The factory remains closed. The bills still arrive. The deeper causes remain untouched. Scapegoating offers the comfort of certainty, but certainty is not the same thing as understanding. Real solutions usually begin when we are willing to look beyond the slogans and examine the problem in all its uncomfortable complexity.