535. White Privilege

“Do you plead guilty for being skin-white?”,

The judge asked, pointing his gavel at me.

“We must rid the world of the hateful sight,

Of privilege and self-superiority”.

I pled, “I’m not guilty, your honor!”,

To the resounding of gasps, oohs, and ahhs.

“I’m not guilty any less…any more,

Nor have I broken any just moral laws.

I reject your claim that I’m a color.

I am human. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Of the same shade as our first ancestors.

Color only matters when used to oppress.

We are of the same fam’ly and species,

Though our troubled history is quite clear.

Evil has been done to everybody,

For we’re all susceptible to manipulation and fear.

Color and anything that’s “different”,

Is used to attain power and control.

Forging divides where they once were absent.

Oppressing far too many a human soul.

So I can not be guilty, your honor,

For I refuse to accept division.

My privilege is merely in living, sir.

I do not acknowledge this court’s position!”

“Sentence her!”…”Guilty!”, the court erupted;

As, “Order! Order!”, the judge shouted out.

“I see this trial has long been corrupted.”

“Not guilty”, the judge firmly declared. “Out! Out!”

And as I strode outside into the sun,

Someone in the crowd yelled, “Racist!”, and *BANG*

Another human oppressed by oppression.

And in the end: What is won? What is won?

As the lynched and I sang, yes, sang to the grave,

The power-mad laud that finally…

“Justice has been done!”

K. Aldaya, 4/28/21

Picture 1: By Volkan Olmez on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/wESKMSgZJDo

Picture 2: By Kamil Feczko on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/fd3BpI6NcMU

534. The Devil’s in the Details (Uncensored)

They told him that he was insane,

When life had beaten him down,

And instead of offering love and support,

They gave him drugs in which to drown.

They told him to stay locked away,

“To protect the most innocent”;

While the suicidal were sacrificed,

Upon their altar of consent.

They told her the baby should die,

When she feared being a mother.

Instead of helping her be one,

They taught her how to smother.

They told her she was only worth,

The money she could earn.

There was no worth in “family” work.

A home was meant to burn.

They told her she could have it all,

When there is only so much time,

So instead of having everything.

Everything was out of time.

They told him he was guilty,

For the crimes of a skin color.

Instead of individual guilt,

All are guilty for another.

They told him he was racisms’ victim.

That everyone else held him back.

So instead of giving him a hand to stand,

They stood upon his back.

They say they care for nature,

While they destroy it all too well,

And conspire against human life,

Forgetting humans are of nature as well.

They told him he was toxic,

For simply being born a man.

Instead of accepting nature as it is,

They told him he’d be better as a tran.

They told her sex is a construct,

Of an oppressive system,

While oppressing her with testosterone,

Was part of their stratagem.

They told him to speak his mind,

That the country was still free.

Instead they censored and cancelled him,

‘Til he promised (on one knee) to never again disagree.

They do not care about you,

But there are those out there who care,

They just aren’t for big government,

For power does not care.

Power seeks more power,

Be it by fear, or by deceit.

If they wanted to build where you stand,

You’d end up in concrete.

They’ll tell you they are in the right,

When all they do is wrong.

If one says one thing and does another,

You can bet they’re leading you along….

Into the depths of hell.

K. Aldaya, 04/19/21

Picture 1: By: Murilo Gomes on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/EYdFerWxoQY

Picture 2: By: Tech Nick on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/5YuVGW2deMw

424. Human

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No, I’m not a generic “white person”,

And no one should ever be.

We’re all our own people,

So stop stereotyping me.

I’m not a “white person” at all.

I am simply a human being,

And until all understand this,

Racism will always be a thing.

Who cares what you look like.

What are you like inside?

What kind of a soul do you have,

Within this skin we all reside?

All ethnicities…shapes…colors…

We are all the same.

So why can’t we love one another?

Sometimes sight is such a shame!

If we saw no colors…

Then there’d only be a name: Human.

K. Aldaya, 1/26/18

Picture: By: Anthony Delanoix on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/hzgs56Ze49s

419. What Do You Call It?

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What do you call it when someone’s judged by their skin?

When they’re told, “You’re a certain way and don’t fit in”.

What do you call it when they’re picked on for their shade?

When they’re told they are wrong, just for how they were made?

What do you call it when they’re blamed for who they are?

“Your skin is the reason why you deserve a scar”.

What do you call it when they’re told: “Change your color!”.

Told: “It isn’t right” or “You should have another”?

I’ll tell you what it is called…It’s called racism, right?

Though I wonder what you’d say if I told you they were “white”.

K. Aldaya, 11/29/17

Picture: By: Jon Tyson on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/BQoNx5G6mEI