Tag: Equality

The Young Bull

A young bull

Lay in the ravine

Grazing on grass

Not making a scene

A young bull

Just laying all day

Until parasites, like children,

Came out to play

They came in flocks

Disdain in mind

With only one idea

To destroy their mind

The young bull

Surprised with awe

Despite internal thoughts

Kept sealed, his jaw

Like fire and wind

The thoughts spread with ease

Leaving the bull

Not knowing what to believe

Should I give in?

To their wrath like a victim

Or should I endure

With my thoughts I’m conflicted

I think of something

It’s on the tip of my tongue

The decisiveness of it all

Unraveling my mind till it’s undone

The bull kept quiet

Enraged and distraught

Like all he had known

Was lost and forgot

Until he realized

The strength in his fleece

And like a treaty of life

He had come to peace

That in this very world

A world of great sin

He would have to succumb now

If he ever wanted to win

Statement

For my narrative, I decided to use a bull as a metaphor for my friend Khair, who is African American. In the poem, the bull faces trouble from a parasite, who tries to influence him and take over his mind. In this, its a parallel to how my friend experienced racism from the men at the basketball court. At the court, the men would make comments about how Khair has more “natural hops” and how he’s “naturally more athletic” because of his skin color. To me, it sounds like the men were older and maybe that was just how they were raised. That to them, it was okay to say those things. However, my friend told me that the events at the basketball court rattled and changed his opinion of how black men are viewed in modern America, and how surprising it was to see how the older generation of white men viewed younger African Americans, and in general, and how somewhat attacking it was. My friend was dazed, but ultimately had to come to the conclusion that fighting back, and arguing about the situation would only lessen the view of African Americans in white men’s mind. So he decided to stay silent, and allow the men to say what they had to, knowing that in the future, things will be different with movements such as Black Lives Matter, and a new wave of progressive leaders.

Equality for All or Equality for None

Roses are red, and Violets are blue,

I do not discriminate; why do you?   

I see black and you see white,

But we shed the same color of blood.

We aren’t just African-American and Latin-American,

We are all just American,

This topic is sensitive for most,             

I am just trying to make a difference in this world,

It is okay for you to say something back,

But when I say something back it just turns on me for being black,

I may not come across all the hate,

But I know it is there, isn’t that great?

I know the hate will never go away,

Is it that hard to all hold hands together and make this world better?

Everyone has a deeper message and their voice counts.

These lives are more than just more color and religion types,

Let America proceed down the right path again,

America can we be cool again?

Now not everyone is a racist or bigot,

Although, one apple ruins the bunch,

This fight is for all,

Black, white, purple or pink, who cares at all,

We don’t want to ruin it all,

I know every thinks they can do it all,

Let me tell you,

We are stronger together than alone doing it all,

He has struggled because of race,

I feel like that is such a disgrace,

He sees white as I see black,

No problems or no hate,

If we could all get along wouldn’t that be great?

Let’s just drop it all and not discriminate.

Sam Haston, Feb 17, 2019, Kansas City, Mo, All rights reserved.

Recently, I met with a childhood friend of mine to discuss his perspective of being black. We met on a cold night in February at his apartment to discuss some questions. At first, it was hard to get information out of him. We had never actually had a talk about this in person or at any time. I know he has had some racist comments yelled at him on multiple occasions because I had been there. It was great to get a view of everything that is going on right now and what has happened to him in the past. It is astonishing to hear some of the stories about kids in high school and middle school yelling racial slurs at such a young age. In our interview, he tells me “Uncle Tom is basically a black dude that is basically hanging out with white people”(13:25). I had never thought about other black people calling other black people racist names. It started to make me think, are these kids taught some of these things at home? I asked him that question as well and he believed that it was taught at home at a young age like that. I wrote this poem to sum up the way his feelings were told to me. Being diverse is a good thing. Being different sets you apart from other, we don’t all want to be the same. Our unique traits are what makes us for who we are. I feel like people should be proud of that and no discouraged or hate being their skin color or religion. Humans are humans, we aren’t perfect and shouldn’t strive to be perfect or normal because those definitions are not existent when it comes to life. What is normal? What is perfect? Everyone’s definition is different and varies from person to person. Everyone needs to step into someone else’s shoes and see what it is like to be them. Judgment on color or religion is not an acceptable way to judge someone in this world we live. We don’t live the same life but I believe it is important for everyone to take a step back and live in someone else’s shoes for a day.