Representation Is Crap, Part I
I saw a man blathering on,
a professor with PhD,
who called himself ‘anti-racist,’
which seemed rather bizarre to me
since he kept saying that we must
see ourselves in culture at large,
singers, actors, must be the same race,
otherwise it would leave deep scars.
Needless to say I was alarmed,
for I had seen many a film
with Denzel Washington up front
ensuring that bad guys were killed.
Will Smith and Sidney Poitier,
Eddy Murphy, back in my youth,
I had been cheering for them all,
but this professor told me the truth,
that I cannot identify
with an actor who’s skin is dark,
since I myself lack such pigment,
I couldn’t see myself in their parts.
Now I know I can only feel
for people whose melanin lacks,
I mean when has a professor
ever been known to spew crap?
Worse still I liked Sammy Davis,
or liked him, I think I should stay,
since I can’t see myself in singers
whose looks go in a different way.
Even worse I saw a black teen
watching Sinatra on Youtube,
reacting with amazement at
the way the man carried a tune.
How internalized is the self-hate
in that unfortunate young man?
To identify with Sinatra…
he must be well and truly damned.
Since professors who look like him
have said it again and again,
our singers must reflect ourselves,
otherwise how can we like them?
I know I cannot help that kid,
but the one thing I did was this,
I went through all my MP3s,
deleted all non-pale artists.
How could I appreciate them?
Much better they all go to scrap,
academia can’t be wrong,
they wouldn’t just put out dumb crap...
CONCLUDES IN PART II.
Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2021
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