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Melting Pot MAG
America is not a melting pot
Individual colors shine through
Black and white
brown and yellow
racism and discrimination
condensed to terms a four-year-old could understand
if we were melted together
we wouldn’t even have labels
we’re more of a salad
parts of different wholes
divided and torn from each other
side by side
vaguely aware of others
slathered over with a dressing
of artificial Americanism
to make us seem like a more perfect union
Can we make the deep hues of bellow?
Or the beauty of blite?
These are colors you’ve never heard of
because you’re too used to the words
that your parents taught you to refer to people –
but not even that
in reality you speak of the melanin contents of their skin
like it’s the contents of their hearts
and you affirm your personal prejudices
based on if I’m
black or white
brown or yellow
or any other color in the rainbow of the population
like the rainbow salad you ordered from the American restaurant down the street
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This article has 10 comments.
Racism is ubiquitous. As an Asian, I see a lot of judgement, stereotyping, and blatantly offensive remarks. Even when I visit my place of origin (even though I was born in America), I’m still discriminated against for speaking with an American accent. Racism stirs a wholly separate group of feelings in me, which is why I think it makes such excellent fodder for the emotional strength that poetry encompasses.