Don�t put me inside that Box!!!!

Being categorized by society

Black not Hispanic

White not Hispanic

Asian, Islander Pacific

Hispanic

Mexican

Puerto Rican

 Mark one only.

 

Stop it I can’t breathe don’t you see what this is doing to me?

Why can’t I choose to mark other since nothing identifies me?

 

Go on braggin bout where you from and how you mark generation number 3

I gotta be strong and hold my head up while society decides my race for me

 

Unable to identify as both black and white or mixed as some choose

You wouldn’t know this because you haven’t walked in my shoes

 

I got hair like my mother red long and curly

Dark skin like my dad and lips like Aunt Shirley

 

Eyes so deep but not like the ocean, more like amber in a tiger’s eye

I am the descendants of the oppressed and the oppressor which I cannot deny

 

So here I am with a combination of features that don’t traditionally match

How does one decide which race do I empower or which one I should un-attach?

 

Always asked if I am Mexican, Boricua, Cuban, Dominican, just never Black

I stand proud to be both German and African American and that’s a fact!

 

I am considered the outcast by all means and Now I can embrace my lot

But what ever you do, by all means please, Don’t put me inside that box!!!

By, Myrtice J. Edwards

1-15-2007