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Created on: October 01, 2008
Is my worth a function of my skin tone
Was there something to be said for being the same race
Why aren't we same even though we're of the same race
Why aren't we friends of each other
Why can't we help each other through
We reach out to those we're most comfortable with
Always alienating someone we're not
That everyone else thinks we get along with
Perhaps no one will know any different
Perhaps we'll keep everything at home
Yet that never happens
So when someone else speaks of self hatred
I wonder if that hatred comes from a familiar face
What happens with those in the same place
Or those that just happened to be there
That don't look exactly like you and me
Yet are for all practical purposes
Exactly like you and me
Who likes who, who's hot or not
Who sacrificed themselves
In spite of what we are on the outside
Paper bags, cheap combs and swimming pools
If I can't get my hair through it
I can buy someone else's hair
I can have hair manufactured
If I can't pass that test
Then perhaps I can dress myselfup
Wear expensive clothes and pass
Somewhere else; go into the store
What do you see, who do you see
Who owns the store, who are you buying from
So where does all of this come from
If you're a strong individual
Self-sufficient, knowledge of self
Automony, wisdom, conscientiousness
Does it matter what you look like on the outside
Or do you need parties, exclusivity, clubs
Organizations, high places to hide in
To feel better about yourself
Do I need to be excluded from those things
Cast in the outer darkness to where I can
No longer even look in, to do my own thing
Do I need a justification not to like you
Or perhaps I didn't like you anyway
Perhaps I just needed a reason
We learn it elsewhere, among other races
Among other cultures, other classes, then
We bring it home as something good and
Positive, to protect ourselves
Sort of like the fatty foods we eat
Cursed meat from animals left to their own
Devices, as we are when we're away from God
When he no longer wants to help us
Yeah sort of like that, something like it
Yet realize what we've done once it's too late
My color in comparison to your color
"I like it completely different, but not too close To home", what does that say about me, what
Can it say about you, and why do any of us
Continue to do it?
Is that what you've said, or what you think
Yet are afraid to say, we say that we would
Appreciate people "keeping it real" with us
Political correctness, let's keep it real with each other
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Poetry: Race
Can you see my face and not
refer to my race?
Can I travel from place to
place and be judged by my
kindness and my grace?
The
Score Tortoise
sullen seas like ice
gleaming sheen rise spikes
fly right land true
let stupid cupid arrows do
what compels
them
by J.R. Lewis
My Skin
Pale, cloud-white flesh clings to my curves
German curves that cause eyes to watch me
As I walk by slow and smile
Human-kind...
I belong to a race called Human
Where we came from, nobody knows
But someday when we all learn to get along
What's the color of my skin?
If I told you,
would that determine the person I am?
If so, then for today I am pink,
red,green,and
View All Articles on: Poetry: Race
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