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Open Poetry #15
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What It's Like To Be Black
| Open Poetry #15 |
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What It's Like To Be Black |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
until you have ancestors of color who were treated like wild beasts and savages until you receive harsh treatment as they did you don't know what it's like to be black until you live in captivity and watch your whole family fall apart and witness your babies sold to service another family you don't know what it's like to be black until you walk into a store and feel victimized due to the hard stares of people assuming you're only there for trouble you don't know what it's like to be black until you get the crap knocked out of you because of your skin color you don't know what it's like to be black until you spend a lifetime behind bars for a crime you never committed just because in some people's eyes you fit the description of a criminal you don't know what it's like to be black until you feel the hate and rage of one who has just been labeled a "Nigger" or compared to a filthy disgusting animal you don't know what it's like to be black until the hatred, the racism, the labels, all end, the people of color will always know what it's like to be black [This message has been edited by Trina (edited 07-29-2001).] |
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| © Copyright 2001 Trina - All Rights Reserved | |||
SEA 
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676with you |
Trina, the fact is I could never know. But I'm not one of the people who judge by color of skin. I smile at everyone, and know everyone has feelings just like me. No one can change what happened in the past, even when we wish we could.....how we behave today should be what counts. No matter the color of your skin. No matter your religion, or your political party, or your disability, or financial status......all of it.... very powerful poem  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
There is discrimination of all kinds, against all colors, race, denominations... This piece is strong and stark, and could fit any of the above. It's our job to erase discrimination. This is a start. Good job! |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
Yes, I know there are alot of people who feel exactly how you do, I feel that way too. There are also alot of people who feel exactly the opposite so I guess this is written from their point of view. Though the past can not be changed it should not be forgotten entirely but it should also not be used against anyone else for something they had no control over. |
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SEA
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676with you |
Trina, yes!! very nicely said |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
Thanx Sunshine, I'm glad you think it's a start. Thank you for reading. Take care, Trina |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
Thanx Sea |
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doreen peri Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812Virginia |
well, yes, it's true i do not know but know, i do, of blacks who look at me with hatred because my skin is white but not the history of families eats my soul alive, my father's greek lebanese dark skin treated like he didn't belong with mom's blonde blue-eyed fair and me? i went to dance with my date, black who's daggered eyes stared at white skinned bartenders, hatred alive, whispering his great grandfather's past to me as if i had something to do with it "they'll make us wait for a drink because they think i shouldn't be with you" let's dance, i said. i'm not them. i'm me. |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
That was so beautifully written. I understand that perfectly , everyone will experience some form of discrimination and others may hate them because of their skin color or because they may have a certain stereotype of how that person may be. The world is a really messed up place to live in sometimes. Take care, Trina |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
So well expressed Trina...James |
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RSWells Member Elite
since 2001-06-17
Posts 2533 |
Until you bury a past that is a distant past you will not know peace. Caucasions were slaves on more than one ocassion. Caucasions are being beaten in this country for being white and incarcerated for being poor. I'm no bigot and will not be an apologist nor remain silent when I see customers in my business go to a black associate for commisioned help because he's black. My ancestors have been in North America for 360 years and none owned slaves but some did fight and die in a war for the freedom of all men. My father was the first caucasion to join the NAACP in Pittsburgh Pa. and I won't cower from this topic. "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to decieve" |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
You make excellent points, Trina. No white person can know what it is like to be black. If I were asked to describe it, I would imagine it to be similar to myself going to a party for the rich and famous, being looked at as if I didn't belong, as if I could steal the silverware at any moment. I would feel very defensive and angry at their presumptions that I was so inferior to them because I was different. It has to be a very difficult way to live. We have come a long way since Rosie Parks, however. Blacks not only sit anywhere on the bus they want...sometimes they own the bus companies! Unfortunately, the large majority does not. Hopefully, the equalization of the races will continue until all are indeed considered equal. Will it happen in our lifetime? Probably not...but it will happen. One thing I admire very much about the black race is that their history, unfair as it may be, bands them together in such a way they draw strength from each other and are joined in a common goal...a demand for equality. This is a very powerful bond....and it will make a difference. Thank you, Trina, for this thought-provoking piece. Only through communication and acknowleldgement of a situation can a solution be possible. |
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rwood Member Elite
since 2000-02-29
Posts 3793Tennessee |
In birth, we differ, in life we differentiate. I wish all could just respect differences and be at one. I've learned to love the good in any person, and despise the bad the same. Bonding with anyone that will bond with me. If they can get past the fact that I was the first white female on an all male naval baseball team, the first on an all black Volley ball team in my high school, one of the first on an all girl soccer team to play and Defeat the Boys teams (There was no one else to play) in California. And one of the first white females to lead a school protest over the school board authorized segregation of hispanic/white/black/asian. They wouldn't even let us play ball together! We peacefully went to the gym and played basketball for a day to show the faculty that we could get along. Sounds silly but true! So I speak from experience on some matters of prejudice. I took a lot of heat from all races and walks of life. I'll never know what it is like to be black, But I do know a lot of great people of every color and unique quality. I want to be a quality person. The most important thing I can do is teach my children "to each his own". And to love and be loved. Respecting the good in everyone, every way possible. It can start here! Just as being beheaded in public was once acceptable in life, which now it is not, maybe someday this too shall be only in the past. Sincerely, Regina |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
I would like to thank you all for reading and posting your thoughts on this topic. Everyone has some type of history that isn't so great, I never said any other person of a different race or color can't get beat up because of it but being that I am black I honestly don't know what it's like to be white to write about how they suffer and the harsh treatment they receive. Being that I like to write my poems from different points of view taking the view of a person of a different race is definitely a challenge for me. I just want everyone to know I do know everyone receives some type of harsh treatment and at times can feel inferior to people of another race or even of the same race for many different reasons. |
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BloomingRose Member Elite
since 2000-08-09
Posts 3092Florida |
Trina, It is sad that sometimes our human eyes cannot see with our heart. We cannot let others distorted views control our life, or let past or present selfish ignorance shape the future. Pity judgemental fools, they too have to stand before God one day. ((BIG HUG)) Deb |
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Trina Member
since 2001-06-28
Posts 97 |
And I feel sorry for them when they do. My best way of dealing with ignorance is by ignoring it. |
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