Stormy PoeticJustice

Because you feel comfortable telling me to smile

Because I’m here to entertain you

Because you call me “sassy” when I’m being direct

Because you think I’m too sensitive

Because a gathering of more than two of us is assumed to be a gang

Because you accuse me of being loud, even when I am whispering

Because you called me an Oreo

Because it was meant as a compliment

Because you don’t think I sound Black over the phone

Because “may I help you” actually means “I expect you to steal”

Because toy guns get us killed

Because police cars make me nervous

Because police officers make me nervous

Because we’re still taught to avoid direct eye-contact

Because that’s disrespectful

Because that could get us killed

Because you don’t make eye contact with me

Because you don’t see me

Because my son will likely be arrested someday

Because our fathers, brothers, and sons are jailed at disproportionate rates

Because my brothers always fit the description

Because self-defense is ruled murder

Because murder is ruled suicide

Because for you, drugs are possessed by hippies, and, for us, drugs are possessed by felons

Because you can’t vote if you’re a felon

Because 3/5 counting is still happening

Because I can’t convince everyone to vote

Because voting machines are rigged

Because you expected Michelle Obama to snap her fingers and roll her eyes

Because Donald Trump is a presidential candidate

Because I have to tell you that Black lives matter

Because you retort with “all lives matter”

Because driving (or shopping, or walking, or flying…) while Black is not a joke, it’s a reality

Because you are offended by the concept of white privilege

Because your knapsack is invisible

Because you think racism is a thing of the past

Because you think we should be over slavery by now

Because you think I should forgive any transgression

Because you think affirmative action is unnecessary

Because you think reverse racism exists

Because you blamed me for the diversity training you had to “sit through”

Because you suddenly remembered to lock your car door

Because I said, “I’m from Milwaukee”, and your response was, “But where are you really from?”  

Because I don’t know where I’m really from

Because my heritage was stolen from me

Because massacres on the continent of Africa are not newsworthy

Because Facebook doesn’t offer a filter for that

Because you use the N word when (you think) no Black people are around

Because you have an opinion as to whether or not I use the N word

Because of the misuse of the word urban

Because you take credit for building this country, but blame us for its destruction

Because confederate flags still fly on state buildings

Because Darkey Springs Road, Jim Crow Road, Dead Negro Hollow, Uncle Tom’s Creek, Niggerhead Ranch…

Because you corrected me when I referred to myself as Black, instead of African-American

Because you are not referred to as European-American

Because you taught me Christianity to pacify me

Because Black churches are still burning

Because I’ve never had a Black professor

Because you call me articulate

Because you told me that the Cosby Show was unrealistic

Because he was a doctor, and she was a lawyer

Because you told me that becoming a doctor isn’t a realistic goal

Because you’re surprised when I tell you that I have a Master’s Degree

Because you’re surprised when I tell you that I went to college

Because you’re surprised when I tell you that I went to private school

Because you’re surprised when I tell you that I graduated from high school

Because I didn’t become a doctor

Because the income gap between you and I is increasing, not decreasing

Because our children are not educated equally

Because better schools usually means whiter schools

Because you teach our children to reach for success in the form of sports, not education

Because a college degree is optional

Because I have to tell you not to touch my hair without permission

Because you are offended when I do

Because my daughter hates her hair

Because I had to learn not to hate my hair

Because I don’t have good hair

Because my hair-care products have anti-theft devices

Because cornrows and locks are unprofessional when worn by me

Because cornrows and locks are edgy when worn by you

Because you refer to my beauty as exotic

Because my picture is always used to prove diversity

Because you complain that you have to tan in order to achieve my skin color

Because you think our children are “just so precious”

Because you wanted a brown baby since they’re cuter

Because you won’t call me for an interview if my name is too ethnic

Because Blackface is an acceptable costume on Halloween

Because Blackface is acceptable ever

Because you think you’re an expert on hip-hop culture

Because we are used as props/accessories in music videos

Because Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift…

Because the first Disney Princess was created in 1937

Because no Disney princess had dark skin until 2009

Because you don’t see color

Because you body-shame our strong athletes

Because Sarah Baartman was featured in in French zoos

Because Hottentot Venus

Because over-sexualization

Because you assume I can dance

Because you thought I’d be excited about Lay’s Chicken and Waffles potato chips

Because I have to drive to a specific store to purchase a greeting card that features Black people

Because you asked me why there isn’t a white history month

Because you responded “of course” when I told you that I was raised by my mother

Because no matter what my brother does, my nephew doesn’t have a chance

Because a high school boyfriend got in trouble for dating me

Because you don’t date Black girls

Because you hit on me when you’re drunk

Because your friends dared you to do it

Because you “have a lot of Black friends”

Because white men walk in front of me, and do not hold the door for me

Because you are uncomfortable in a room full of Black people

Because I am usually the only Black person in the room

Because age is an excuse for racism

Because geography is an excuse for racism

Because tradition is an excuse for racism

Because only Black people can be welfare queens

Because after 26 straight years of working, I was denied unemployment

Because $165 per month to feed a family of four

Because you asked me if I grew up in the ghetto

Because not all of us have bootstraps to pull ourselves up by

Because home ownership is not the norm

Because red-lining still happens

Because it was no accident that “Mother to Son” was the first poem I had to memorize

Because you want me to stop making everything about race

Because when you silence me, I have to speak louder

Because sometimes I have to shout

Because you continue to provide me with material for my poems

Because I’m expected to be strong

Because I’m expected to be weak

Because I’m not expected to be angry

Because I’m not free