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Sometimes I am ashamed to wear the color of my skin. |
Shameless Sometimes I am ashamed to wear the color of my skin. I look down at my own arms and wonder if I would be heard If they looked like yours. Would my voice be any more powerful If it came from another face? I flip through magazines And television stations And the reference section in the library And all the words I see are white. All the men--whose thoughts will shape the minds of my parents And my brothers and sisters And my children-- All those men were white Just Like Me. Because my skin is white, I cannot voice my thoughts on discrimination or segregation. I am not allowed to state my opinion on inequality Or express my feelings of injustice when someone is wronged. They tell me it doesn't count because I don't have to face it Myself. They say my opinion is invalid because I never suffered Like they did And because the suffering of their people was caused By my own. I have faced inequality and partiality, But because of my actions, not my race. I do not need justice for myself-- I suckled it at my mother's breast While you were drinking oppression from yours. I am ashamed to wear the color of my skin Because when you aren't accepted To that school Or that friend group Or that job Because the other applicant was white, all I can think is: "That could have been me" It could have been me who took your place By no merit of my own Except the body I was born in That has been deemed of higher value Than yours. I can make choices you never will Go places Meet people And seize opportunities Because my race does not require justice. But when I require justice not as a white person But as a person Because you are a person (Even if we look different) And we are the same People take the defensive. "What do you know?" "You can never understand." "It shouldn't even matter To you." Because I don't suffer, I am disallowed from caring about the suffering of others. When I find prejudice in our shared world, I must remain silent Because other voices are more worthy than mine To bring it to others' attention. I do not need justice. I do not understand. You have been fighting to be heard So that people who think they are better than you Will begin to treat you the same. So that your recognition will not be that of your skin But of yourself. You have been fighting so that we will see the injustice and oppression and partiality. I see it. I see the pain you have suffered and the scars from how you have been wronged (Though I will never understand it) And I want the hatred to stop, But nobody cares Because my skin is white. I do not require justice. I don't need to be recognized for my humanity And have it be called selflessness or righteousness or tolerance. (Sometimes they call it guilt and pity.) I do not need to be heard. But you need to know You have been heard. I hear you and I hate the words. I want your pain to stop and I want you to know That I know what has been done in the past was wrong And what is being done now is wrong And what I could do in the future will only be right Because the injustice stops with me. You have not won the war. I know that, that you are still fighting and I change nothing, But out of all the battles against all the enemies, you have won this one. I am no longer your enemy. They won't listen if I fight Because I do not understand But only if I fight alone. I will join you-- Join the millions of voices crying for justice. I do not need to be heard For you will be. And suddenly, I am not quite as ashamed. I know that I will never understand But I know that I don't have to-- Not anymore. But there are others who carry the shame Of pale skin Or blue eyes. There are people who have been born to a race or gender or sexuality or religion Who also see injustice perpetrated by others just like them And hate it And feel ashamed. They have heard, and nobody hears them. One day they will learn that all they need Is to stop shouting alone. In a chorus of a million voices A single shout is indiscernible But the chorus is only discernible because of a million single voices. So shout loudly And live justly And know not only the enemy But the ally--the friend--as well. Be human. Be powerful. Be shameless. |