Red and white and blue.
Six years old entering a new place
This one promises freedom.
Equality.
First day in long hallways
Surrounded by white skin and blue eyes.
Cheeks flush red. Embarrassment as laughter reaches her ears.
She looks funny talks funny dresses funny.
Only six yet different. Not the same. Unequal.
Days turn into months and years. 
7. 8. 9. 10.
Summertime brings heat and loneliness.
Watching from her window.
Classmates run by red from the sun.
Days are spent at the beach.
Days with white sand and sunscreen.
With blue ocean and big umbrellas.
Days filled with laughter with fun with each other. But not with her.
11. 12. 13.
Stopped by officers on her way home from school.
A random search they say.
Flashing lights red and white and blue.
She knows better.
The color of her skin almost like a calling card.
Separating her from the good kids.
From the normal kids.
The ideal kids.
Chosen at random, no.
But at least she was chosen for something.
14. 15.
High school is where people discover themselves.
That's what the books have told her.
But she is not discovering she is subduing.
Morphing to fit in with the crowd.
Hair bleached white, lips colored red, skin paled with make up and hiding from sunlight.
She is in a disguise.
Hiding in plain sight.
Finally age has friends. People that want to be a around her.
But they don't because she is no longer her
But just another one of them.
16. 17. 18.
The end of school comes.
The six year old foreigner filled with hope and awe lives inside a beautiful young woman's body.
Dark eyes, tanned skin, and glossy hair.
Cherished by all but most of all by herself.
A flag is raised, Stars and Stripes sailing in the wind.
She takes the microphone.
Her story is told.
One of hardships and inequality.
One of judgement and perseverance.
America is not a land where everyone is an equal.
No such land exists.
The crowd roars in red hot anger.
A white mob fighting the girl who challenges their core beliefs.
We are not all equal. She repeats.
This is not a country of equality, but if chances.
Everyone gets a chance to get to the top.
Some paths may be more steep than others, but anyone can make it there.
The sky shine blue and proud as a thunderous applause filled the air.
She was a part of them now.
But not one of them.
A participant yet an individual.
Caps fly with promises of freedom and hope for the future.
The sky explodes and they stand awed
By red and white and blue.