I will always be white

Things I've thought about during my black female empowerment class

They will never call my skin empowered

They will never call my skin beautiful

They will never call my skin Black

 

I will always be white

I will never be able to stand with my hands up and it mean anything of significance

I will never be able to stand next to black women and be seen as anything other than white

I will never be able to stand tall without the whispers of “white privilege” in my ear

 

I will always be white

I am the highest and lowest parts of the pole

I get everything I want, but it’s never really earned

My hard work is never noticed,

And my journey will never be tough enough

 

I will always be white

My aches, my pains, my sorrow, and my setbacks

Will never mean anything,

And will forever been seen as

It could have been worse.

 

I will always be white

I empathize

I sympathize

I try

I fail

 

I will always be white

I want it all to mean something

Your skin and mine

I want my life to equal to yours

 

I will always be white

My strength be your strengths

My hurt be your hurt

My burden be your burden

And my love be your love

 

I will always be white

But will there be a day without white or black?

A day with out dark, tan, purple, or green?

Will there be a day that colors are just colors?

And the children all fill like crayons in a box.

 

I will always be white

Will I ever be beautiful? Will my skin ever compare?

Will my set-backs be noticed, my victories triumphant?

Will we struggle together? Will we celebrate in peace?

We are more than just color

I am more than just white 

Author's Note

All feedback is welcome! Thanks for reading!

Reviews

[Robin Saxon]

This is extremely good. On one side standing in solidarity, on the other standing in solitary.
The only thing I did not like was the line 'And the children in the grass fill like crayons in a box'. I felt it did not really fit and was not as strong as the rest of the poem.
This is not a criticism, it is an observation. I will be reading more of your work.

[MM.P]

Thank you, Robin, for your feed back! That specific line was one I had messed with and tried in a few different ways, so it's not at all surprising that you felt that way. The feed back is more than welcome! Thank you!

[wordman]

this is a great message,loved it

[MM.P]

Thank you!

[wordman]

my pleasure

[Alecia]

You, my dear, are a diamond in the ruff! You say you don't know what you are doing...but yet you did it!! Gave me goose bumps. You have a talent just waiting to be discovered!!!!

[MM.P]

Wow! WOW! Thank you so much! Thank you for your kind words and belief in my writing! I can't tell you how much your review means! Thank you!