Gina Williams

THIN BLUE LINES

In the 1930s and 1940s, the U.S. Federal Government’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation created “Residential Security” maps of major American cities, creating a system of codified racism that continues to have devastating sociological and economic impacts today.

Mama sweeps flies from the kitchen, 
implores with fatigued, bomb-cratered gaze—
what is the difference between life inside cell-barred maps and 

incarceration / persecution / shackles / slave shack / whip / noose?

Imagine these white men in dark suits
marking up plats, color 
coded, graded by race and class—

safe (for whites) green / danger (don’t invest here) red / still desirable (for whites)
blue / definitely declining (due to presence of undesirable races) yellow

Minneapolis map warns, “A slow encroachment of negroes” near 38th & Chicago, 
crossroads hush-hushed with yellow strips, thick red lines 
& yet to be named George Floyd Square.


Mama’s turned away cryin’ from the bank again
as another white man sniggers, 
STAMPS denied on home loan papers.

Gina Williams is a freelance journalist, gardener, former wildland firefighter, and visual artist. The author of An Unwavering Horizon, a full-length collection of poetry published in 2020 (Finishing Line Press), her writing and visual art have been featured most recently by Moss, River Teeth, FRAMES Magazine, J. Mane Gallery, Electric Lit, Carve, and The Sun, among others. She holds degrees in journalism and strategic communication from the University of Oregon. Gina lives and creates near Portland, Oregon with her best friend and fellow poet, husband Brad Garber.

Learn more about Gina and her work at https://ginamariewilliams.com/