James Moore Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

When Words Lose Their Meaning

What is a racist?
These days it’s hard to know.
It used to be so cut and dry
Back when practically everyone,
Heck, even old Honest Abe
The Great Emancipator,
Was openly White Supremacist.
Then it became a fringe thing
Reserved for the poorest, least educated
Among US, at least something
Not mentioned in polite company.
That’s how it was when I was young,
And it only got better,
Until recently when it became a thing again,
Like an old scar
Picked at to become a festering sore.

Now it seems everyone is a racist,
Except not openly.
I know of well meaning liberals who still think
Only skin-headed, Klan-hooded
Whites can be the racists,
And just can’t see that liberal whites
Who condescend with their low expectations
And are convinced
Blacks need their white helping hand
Aren’t just as racists as the openly bigoted.
Then there are the blacks and Hispanics,
Asians and Indians who hate each other,
As well as the big bad White Supremacists,
Because of something as superficial as race.
But they can’t possibly be racist,
Even though in their hearts they know they are.

I know people without a bigoted bone
In their body
Who can see and accept race realism,
The reality that there are distinct
Knowable, measurable, and obvious
Differences between the races
In every way, from physical attributes
To emotional and mental qualities,
And they are surely called racist
By those who can easily imagine them
In their clandestine hoods.
So clandestine these race realists
Don’t even know they’re wearing them.

Racism is a funny thing after all
As it can come from any angle,
Up or down, in or out.
You are a racist if your think another race
Is superior to your own,
Just as much as if you think they are inferior.
You can be a racist towards others,
And towards oneself.
We’ve even seen this in recent public figures
Who are mixed race and the racism battles
There just below the surface within themselves.

What does it mean to be a racist
In an age when the word has lost all meaning
And projection has become the popular currency?
It means what we want it to mean.
Which means we can’t be sure
What it means to anyone else.

(9/24/26)

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment