The Arrows of White Privilege

By Victoria Marie

People of colour, close friends
Empathy, proclaimed
Yet, Joy unshared
Bring arrows of pain
To understand let us
Go back and see
What this old black woman
Saw as a child on TV


Policemen with dogs and hoses
Attack my people huddled
In defensive poses
Angry white crowds shouting, enraged
Because black children with theirs being schooled
While soldiers surround the black children
Protecting their right to what the Supreme Court ruled
Three young men missing, murdered
For helping Black people register to vote
With no one brought to justice
Until 30 years later, a sad footnote


Obama’s election, no big deal to you
Full citizenship has always been your right
However, for people of colour, sometimes
Just to stay sane is a fight
“You can grow up to be president”
They tell us in school, but black students face
The constricting clarifying message
“President, not people of your race.”
So you see, it’s not that he will
Make all the nation’s problems go away
But millions of Black Americans
Full citizenship became reality that November day



November 5, 2008

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you Vikki.

I hope you're doing better.
2:14 am
Anonymous said…
Oh Vikki - your poem touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes! I am a white middle aged woman who saw the same images on TV when I was younger. It always broke my heart and made me wonder what was wrong with people. How could they be so cruel? On the night that Obama was elected my husband and I sat and held hands and cried tears of joy for all of us. We finally had hope! :)
Judy
12:43 am
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