Free from Racism? | Teen Ink

Free from Racism?

May 12, 2009
By EmilytheAuthor DIAMOND, St. Francisville, Louisiana
EmilytheAuthor DIAMOND, St. Francisville, Louisiana
55 articles 20 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be who you are and say what you feel because those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind. -dr. seuss


Red
The color of
Shame on a face
Angry blood
Skin
The color of
Jeering teens
Taught to respect
All adults
Except
Red

White
The color of
My skin
Blonde
The color of my hair
Brown
The color of my eyes
You only see it
If you stare

But my blood is
Red
Colombian-American
But my skin is
White
Hispanic woman
Hidden inside a Barbie doll

They say
Racism is gone
Because Black and White
Can co-exist on a chessboard

But what about
The kids like me,
Listening to ignorance
Listening to people label
Your race
Without seeing
The Red within the White?

No big deal
Right?
America
Home of the free
Where you're free
To love all
As long as it's not
People like me



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This article has 1 comment.


AsIAm PLATINUM said...
on Aug. 22 2010 at 2:05 pm
AsIAm PLATINUM, Somewhere, North Carolina
48 articles 3 photos 606 comments

Favorite Quote:
"According to some, heroic deaths are admirable things. (Generally those who don't have to do it. Politicians and writers spring to mind.) I've never been convinced by this argument, mainly because, no matter how cool, stylish, composed, unflappable, manly, or defiant you are, at the end of the day you're also dead. Which is a little too permanent for my liking." — Jonathan Stroud (Ptolemy's Gate)

Wow.  That was great!  I agree, we are not anywhere near being free from racism.  Like the poem says, there are still groups being discriminated against.  The only reason some people think it is fixed is because now the black population - the symbols of classic racism - have now risen.  But just because blacks aren't looked down upon, doesn't mean it's gone.  I actually think white people, as well as Asians and Hispanics, have started (or continued) to be degraded.  A sad cycle indeed, and your poem captures it perfectly ~AsIAm