King Hedley II By August Wilson – King Hedley Monologue

KING HEDLEY

Context: King Hedley critiques the rampant discrimination in the American justice system.

King Hedley: I ain‘t sorry for nothing I done. And ain‘t gonna be sorry. I‘m gonna see to that. ‘Cause I‘m gonna do the right thing. Always. It ain‘t in me to do nothing else. We might disagree about what that is. But I know what is right for me. As long as I draw a breath in my body I‘m gonna do the right thing for me. What I got to be sorry for? People say, ―Ain‘t you sorry you killed Pernell? I ain‘t sorry I killed Pernell. The nigger deserve to die. He cut my face. I told the judge, ―Not Guilty. They thought I was joking. I say, ―The motherfucker cut me! How can I be wrong for killing him? That‘s common sense. I don‘t care what the law say. The law don‘t understand this. It must not. They wanna take and lock me up. Where‘s the understanding? If a burglar break in a white man‘s house to steal his TV and the white man shoot him they don‘t say he wrong. The law understand that. They pat him on the back and tell him to go on home. You see what I‘m saying? The jury come back and say, ―Guilty.‖ They asked them one by one. They all said, ―Guilty. Had nine white men and three white women. They all said, ―Guilty. They wouldn‘t look at me. I told them to look at me. Look at that scar. I got closer to where they could see my scar. The judge like to had a fit. They had six deputies come at me from all sides. They said I tried to attack the jury. I was just trying to get closer so they could see my face. They tried to run out the door. They took and put me in solitary confinement. Said I was unruly.