Racism Ain't Cool

In this monologue, a fifteen-year-old African-American boy named Devin Woodrow shares why racism should be put to an end.

Devin enters the stage, wearing a white Snapback cap, a white hoodie, and a pair of jeans. He faces the audience.

DEVIN: What comes to mind when you catch someone dressing like this? (gestures toward his clothes) Do you think "poor", "uneducated", or "thug"? Or all of them? Well, let me tell y'all somethin'. People have called me all three of those things before. And it is not just because of how I dress, but because of my race. One time, I  walked into Wal-Mart to get some groceries for my mother. I began to notice that I was receiving stares from a few white shoppers. They were staring at me as if they never laid eyes on a black guy before. Seriously, y'all! Blacks are no different than whites. There are a lot of them that are smart, there are a lot of them that are rich, and there are definitely a lot of them that have a big heart. I may dress differently than some of y'all, but that don't mean that I'm uneducated. In fact, I happen to be a straight A student in my school. I have never given any of my teachers a hard time. I've never smoked. I've never skipped class. I've never stolen anything. I've never killed nobody. And I've never sagged. I guarantee you that I am not making this up. But, if you don't believe that blacks are successful, here are some examples of some African-Americans who have changed this world majorly: Martin Luther King. Jr., Rosa Parks, Hariet Tubman, President Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey...

The list don't stop there! There are a LOT more than that.

Like all lot people say, everyone should be treated equally. So, why aren't we doing that? No one is going to be exactly like you. There are going to be homosexuals, there are going to be people who are handicapped, there are going to be people who have certain religions, and there are definitely going to be black people, Mexican people, or Asian people. And judging them isn't going to make them change. Judging a homosexual won't cause them to become straight. Judging a handicapped person won't make them become...not handicapped. Judging a religious person won't make them become an  atheist. And judging a black person, or a non-white person, won't make them become white. So, we need to accept everyone. No matter how much it bothers you. Do y'all hear what I'm sayin'? Or am I just talking like crap to y'all? 

I hope that this speech helped y'all understand a little bit more about blacks. Thank y'all for listenin'!

Devin exits the stage.

Author's Note

This is to just spread the word about racism. I might add more to this, but please feel free to give some feedback!

If I offended anyone in anyway, please tell me politely and I will reedit it. Thank you guys so much for reading!

Reviews

[Heartful5160]

You shouldn't have felt like you offended anyone. This is a writing and obviously feelings that you've had in your heart and you wrote them down. I can really agree with you. I'm someone that's really strong on racism. I've never really got the reason why blacks and whites always have to be at it. I understand our ancestors have had a rough past with each other over race, but these days you see more of the two together and I love the view of it! We're all the same. We all have hands, feet, fingers, toes, noses, ears, eyes, and a mouth. We all use them the same way. May be it's the way some parents raise their kids to be that way, and I won't lie my parents always warned me about African Americans and things, but I just never understood why. They're just the same as me. They're human too. So, I became friends with many and yes we may live different lives, but deep inside were all just the same. You're right they're many African Americans that get money and live the rich life like the whites as well, see were the same. If it wasn't for Martin Luther King Jr. we wouldn't be where we are. He connected us. That is something I would never take back. I don't think I would be able to live back in the day, I would probably get myself into too much trouble. Because I'm white and I would've agreed with Martin Luther. But all we have to think about is the future now. Remember what we've learned in the past and use it in the future! I've actually written a similar piece to this if you would like to check it out: it's called I'm Just Color Blinded! I would like for you to check it out if you have time! It's nice to see someone else that's against racism as well. Great writing and keep writing!

[Leslie Flemons]

Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad you liked it! And I will check out your book! :)

[Heartful5160]

Well thank you so much for reading the review! Hopefully you'll get to check out my work!

[Antoñyo]

Praises for this, BIG TIME! It never ceases to amaze me that...in such a wonderful and advanced (not to mention, so-called GREAT) country like the USA, we are still unable to 86 such pettiness, stupidity and ignorance.
Thanks for the (100/100) share

[Marie]

This is certainly not offensive.

If I saw Devin climbing on the stage like this, I wouldn't think anything of it. He's simply another teeg age boy getting on a soapbox. He didn't say anything I don't already know.

[Jennie Baron]

Don't feel that you've offended anyone. You've made the point very, very well. Reading Marvin's review he makes some valid points, too. Sadly, it seems racism is ingrained and we all want to feel that we're superior to some other group. I do wish human nature would change, but I despair of that. There is good and bad in all groups and I'm so tired of the hatred. That said as a white girl who grew up in a small town in Texas with very little experience of other races. As Marv said, we all have to look at ourselves honestly, recognize racism (or any other ism) for what it is and start inside ourselves to overcome it. Great monologue! I must investigate more of your writing.

[Workvio]

What can I say, Leslie,

Racism ain't cool at all, but then there are a lot of things in this old word that are not cool, yet go UN-addressed in the same manner that racism continues to run rampant, even thriving within the hearts of those of us who believe that we are not racist … But is that altogether true? … The key to solving any quirk of the human condition is to be found within ourselves in the form of self honesty … Sadly, most humans lack this grand and cleansing attribute …

Now I could easily get defensive and let on like racism is no longer a big factor in the world today or, especially, here in America. But that would be a lie. Racism is not an issue that is only about White versus Black, or White versus Hispanic, or White versus Oriental … In reality the situation and all it entails goes far beyond those simple issues.

But … For the Record, and for the benefit of others: There are Hispanics who are prejudiced against their own kind, simply because they came across our southern borders, calling them Wet Backs with the same slur that many Whites do. There are Oriental people who are prejudiced against Orientals of other nations, not even considering those people to be worthy of interacting with, much less marrying. There are Orientals who view Whites as lesser human beings, and if an Oriental woman during the Korean War was to become pregnant from a White G.I., the child was treated horribly, if it was even born. There are also Hispanics who believe themselves better than Whites, and better than other Hispanics, because they are of Spaniard blood and origin (I know this because I married into a Hispanic family many years ago.). Yes, there are plenty (too many) of Whites who believe themselves better than Hispanics, Blacks, Orientals, Jews, etc. … Oh, yes, Jews are not considered White (though their skin may be light), never were, never have been, and never will be as long as human nature is what it is …

At some point in world history almost all peoples have been discriminated against and abused by other peoples and other nations for reasons of race, culture, religion, etc. ... Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Native Americans, Africans, and Orientals, have all been treated wrongly at some point or other throughout history … No one is excluded, as human nature reaches out to strike a blow to us all, sooner or later …

An example of such? … Even before African slaves came to be sold here in early colonial America, the British Empire was selling White slaves here on American shores, most of them Irish captives and rebels captured and taken prisoner in their fight and efforts to overthrow British rule. Later on, during those days, one could purchase a White or light skinned Irishman for a cheaper price than one could purchase a Black slave from Africa. Irishmen were not considered to be White (hence the vulgar expression of speech taken from a vulgar expression of speech that, “an Irishman is just a n****r turned inside out.”), though their skin was often light in color. Slave owners would then take Irish women slaves and breed them with Black African slaves to give us what the world terms as a Mulatto … Tragically, in fighting for a place in this new land, whether here by sale into slavery or later coming as free immigrants, Irish folks were not well thought of, and were treated as poorly as were Blacks …

Even more tragically, many Irish opposed and literally fought against Blacks in their battle to find equality in America, putting Black Americans down in order to elevate and better themselves, to finally come to be regarded as being White, when originally the Irish were never considered White at all … In fact, many historians assert that Jeremiah the Prophet took the daughters of King Hezikiah (the last legally reigning king of Israel) to Ireland, and the nation of Ireland boasts, to this day, that the tomb of Jeremiah rests upon the Emerald Isle … If true, then many Irish folks may sport some Hebrew and Jewish blood, and so truly are, for sure, not White at all ... Sadly, in forgetting all that they, themselves, had gone through at the hands of self proclaimed Anglo-White folks, many Irish treated Black Americans the same way that they had been treated themselves, and this to their (our) shame … I share these bits of history, because I am of Irish ancestry—Scottish/Irish on my dad's side and Irish on my mother's side—and I have never considered myself to be White, always somehow knowing or sensing the realities of history that can be learned in reading the book, How The Irish Came To Be White, by Noel Ignatiev ( http://endofcapitalism.com/2009/02/15/book-review-of-how-the-irish-became-white/ ), and, White Slaves: White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America, by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh
( http://abundanthope.net/pages/True_US_History_108/White-Slaves-White-Cargo-The-Forgotten-History-of-Britain-s-White-Slaves-in-America.shtml )

Suffice it to say, that regardless of the color of one's skin, there are those who will and do believe themselves better than you, better than me … Somewhere hidden within the core essence of what makes us each human, there is an animal-like characteristic that causes many people to seek some method of viewing others that allows them to believe, feel, assume, assert, and proclaim, that they are better in some way or fashion than others (All of us are subject to falling prey to this attitude, if we fail to recognize & prevent this most evil and slyly slippery of human nature character flaws.) What tools do we humans use to decorate ourselves with our better-than-thou-ness? … Skin color, hair color and texture, facial features, body build and features, speech and linguistic characteristics or differences, education, hereditary class and stature, race, culture, ethnicity, national origins, local origins, religions, traditions, spoken languages … And the list of what men can and do use to make themselves feel more comfortable (a defense mechanism to cloak their own pompous insecurities) in who they are at the expense of others, has no known end …

What can you and I do? Simple, focus on the person housed within the body, and stop looking at the body that houses the person within … Racism and racial paranoia abounds in the world today, only because we, who know better, allow it to do so, allow it to rule over us … Shake off the shackles of the past, and move on in living the future … Bury the word Race, and the term Racism … And if we do so, long enough, one day the world may remember it no more … We can hope … We can hope that basic human nature changes … We can dream … Yet, not all dreams come true … But they can for me and for you, if we choose to not be enslaved by the poor standards and manner of thinking of this present world, bound to slavery by the mistakes of the past ...

[sunprincess]

.........a most fabulous write....it's best not to judge others...even if someone makes a minor mistake...communication can be the key to showing them a better way. ★