Commitment
I get that my whiteness
is in no way a burden,
and I’ve no right to think
it’s anything less than a boon
that daily, in this time and place,
makes my life easier,
at work, at Walmart,
in my neighborhood.
I acknowledge the cruel truth
of the doors I’ve walked through
on my downhill slant when
others can't do the same.
And while I feel shame and
frustration about the ways
in which my race has fixed
the game, I also know this
isn’t about my feelings,
and this isn’t about me.
I am not the center.
How could I be?
Nothing I could suffer, no fight
I could ever fight could ever make
right the past or make heavy
my light side of the scales.
But my whiteness can
be put to use, my whiteness
can learn and listen to
hard things, my whiteness
can start to see truth
in a broader mirror,
my whiteness can be less
Comfortable, more vulnerable,
more aware, more able
to serve others, to serve
especially, to better serve
the students in my care.
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