The Racism
You’re going to ask if my poem’s racist
and what I’ll say to your face is
anything can be racist in the wrong hands
something innocent here
can be weaponized in some other lands
And some will say, but a racist minority just can’t be
sure if you’re looking at it shortsightedly
Because there’s usually more than one minority around
like during the Rodney King riots
didn’t they bust up Korea town?
Sure, when one race has been handled racistly
they’ll handle questions about their own behavior evasively,
but noone’s hands are clear when dirty behavior is handed ‘round
even when who’s in charge gets turned around
It was rough, nervous days in many African countries
when power was handed to the actual, natural majorities
and in some cases
they turned on the racism against things Americans don’t think of as separate races.
What the hell is a Tutsi or a Hutu anyway?
Well, any Rwandan can readily say
YOU can’t tell the difference between Germans and Francs,
but both World Wars were simply race wars -
don’t get distracted by planes, artillery and tanks
For Americans the issue of races narrows down to two, three, or four,
but beyond our borders there are at least three thousand more
This is what it’s really about
- teeming masses at our shores
And to the average ‘Merican
it’s only Mexicans knocking at our door
Doubtless racism is a problem here
one we’ve taken steps backwards on lately, I fear
But I’ve learned the following things that lighten my heart
oddly item one is that any race can play either part
But if overcoming racism is ever going to be our goal
This Country has a better chance at making it’s society whole
It’s understanding and exposure to the other guy
that starts moving towards the better sky,
And by the end of the twentieth century
we got closer to understanding all these faces
And I think we almost got over the stumbling block
that we seem to think that race is
in our minds