If You Don’t See Color: Spoken Word Poem
If you don’t see color, you don’t see me.
You claim to be my friend
Yet in a moment of discussion about racial discrimination
You adamantly state you don’t see color
As if that’s supposed to make everything okay
But it doesn’t.
Though your statement may be well-intentioned,
It is greatly ill-spoken
For it is comments like that,
That adds to the problem and not the solution.
If you truly want to be a part
Of the conversation of change as you claim
Then please concede to the ignorance in your sentence.
Open up your eyes and see
Open up your ears and hear
What your indifference communicates to me.
If you don’t see color
You don’t see my race and its rich history
You disregard my heritage, my background
All of which make up parts of my identity.
If you don’t see color
You discount the uniqueness in my diversity
And how my culture has colored my life
With all its triumphs and adversities.
If you don’t see color
You overlook the impact and influence
My melanin has on all my contributions and experiences
And the differences that make on all my encounters and decisions.
If you don’t see color
You fail to see that my color comes
With certain implications and expectations
Far different from your own
If you don’t see color, you don’t see me.
Do you see me?
Do you see ALL of me?
Or do you see just the parts of me?
That fit within the boundaries
Of your comfort and convenience?
Are you willing to see the rest of me?
That makes you uneasy,
And brings into question
Your definition of equality?
Are you able to acknowledge the privilege in your opinion
That you would have the option to just look away
And refuse to ascertain a significant part of who I am today?
Do you understand that your color blindness does not erase
The racism that people of color face
On a daily basis, whether you choose to see it or not?
So please take a better look and see me
My full value and dignity
Beyond the “Model Minority”
Or any other unhealthy stereotypes and prejudice
You hold of people like me
Don’t ignore my color
Or neglect to see that as part of God’s design
I was made and chosen
With intention, meaning, and purpose in mind.
My skin tone is not a sin to be atoned for,
Nor is it a mistake or an invitation
For people to humiliate or make any assumptions about me.
I do not wish to hide or deny my pigmentation
That adds to God’s beautiful creation
And collection of nationalities and humanity
That makes up His masterpiece.
I fully embrace my complexion
And all the beauty and stories it carries
Because it is part of what makes me me.