M.L.K.

“True compassion is more than flinging coins to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

I remember my first black friend.
It was the badge of diversity I desired.
Blacks know what I’m talking about.
The “token black”.
Us white folks love that.
Especially if our clique is really white.
It diverts attention from the obvious,
Our tribal tendencies and our precious privileges.

Now I’ve got a tribe of token blacks.
Yet, I’ve never been anything but white.
I’m partnered to a person that’s known nothing other than being black.
What’s crazy is when a little of that black rubs off on my white.
Prejudice sure feels different when it’s pointed at me.
Apparently There are folks that aren’t so keen on our coupling.
I’m still the white one though.

I have a liberty she’ll never have.
I can step away at any time.
My wife wears black every day.
She’ll never, not be black,
Not one day.
In our white world,
That’s the first thing that walks into the room.

“Blue lives matter.
What? Was he born a police?
That is not a blue life.
That’s a blue suit.
If you don’t like it, take that suit off and find a new job.
Because, I’m going to tell you right now,
If I could quit being black today, I’d be out the game.”
~Dave Chappelle