Best Stereotypes Poems
Blind Sight
-Meghan C. Hutchings
Have you really looked at me,
Beyond my skin so pale?
Do you know my deepest thoughts,
The secrets that I veil?
Have you really looked at her,
Beyond her skin, light brown?
Do you know her hopes and dreams,
The pain behind her frown?
Have you really looked at him,
Beyond his skin, so dark?
Do you know his goals and fears,
Or how he’ll leave his mark?
Have you really seen yourself,
Beyond your outer hue?
Beneath the surface, find your truth.
Expose the real you...
A- You measured me by my appearance and preconceived perceptions wondering if I fit the mold of black stereotypes;
B- Your gaze holds a gesture of tired impatience and wonder of if I self-hate because my color of skin don’t fit the American way of life or the prototype of what you think im worth because I am a different shade when I stand next to you in the light so I couldn’t possibly suffice how am I a blueprint that came with my own set of trademarks and copyrights;
C- We broke chains of submission and no longer are we bound with shackles by our feet the hold now resonates in minds;
D- Screams from ancestors that were heard across plantations as they got whipped from behind as the hunger for us to bow down before you fed appetites; now you ask why we got our hands up in name of black lives
A- You measure me by my appearance and preconceived perceptions wondering if I fit the mold of black stereotypes;
B- Your gaze hold a gesture of tired impatience and wonder of if I come from a broken home and if my mother’s a single parent struggling to survive and if the government pays for my home in which she tried provide, if the men in my family were part of murders and homicides;
C- Segregated for years because the pigment of our skin showed the difference in which we hoped many would accept; as buses filled and we set in the back further proving that we probably shouldn’t expect to be respected unless we lowered ourselves for your acceptance;
D- As I look at you staring back at me you wonder if I would slight you push you to fear and make you grab your gun in safety because that’s what unties you with others like you I shouldn’t possibly cause a plight it’s what ignites you; all in which coincides from a stereotype
Written by Lesha Trachelle
Stereotypes
Black people all have rhythm and are good at basketball
Not a single blond in the world has any brains at all
Englishmen have bad teeth and Mexicans are lazy
And if you think the Dutch aren’t cheap, certainly you’re crazy
All Chinese are bad drivers, and hairdressers are gay
Consensus is that Irishmen get plastered every day
Construction workers are all fat from eating too much dinner
Korean people eat doggy meat trying to get thinner
All athletes have large muscles in between their ears
Italians run the Mafia; at least it so appears
Jews don’t pay retail and they all have giant noses
All teenagers are rebels, everyone supposes
All the French are rude, and Poles aren’t very bright
And Hawaiians hit their surfboards long into the night
Asians all have high IQ’s, and Germans are efficient
Nowhere is there a doctor whose judgment is deficient
All Arabs support terror, and Latins make great lovers
All Navahos snort firewater underneath their covers
Every single homeless person’s on welfare ‘cause he’s needy
And try to find a politician who isn’t mean and greedy
All people who are fat have a tendency to be jolly
And women are bad drivers; you can count on it by golly
Lawyers are out to cheat you, as a rule of thumb
But most of all, don’t you think that stereotypes are dumb
Judge Not; Lest You Be Judged
Judgement preys on mankind’s weak,
The fickle-minded soul
Where ignorance and hatred peak
Begins the tragic toll…
Where stereotypes rear ugly heads
And lies become belief,
Where trust stays buried under dread
The world is left with grief…
Injustice follows damaged minds
Where better views are flawed
Biased vision taints one’s view
Cold hearts remain unthawed…
This cycle culminates in pain
And humankind’s demise
Such senseless acts full of disdain
Place heartache on the rise…
Let not these prisoners of hate
Destroy our unity
In time, these simple minds of late
Will face their destiny…
You and I can find the peace
The love that’s colorblind
These acts of cruelty must cease
Embrace all of mankind…
Submitting to A Strand 1070 Contest on 02/10/2022
middle aged and middle class
driving way too fast
on country lanes
drop the kid at school
group yoga then the pool
prosecco and wealth envy over lunch
on to a manicure and then hair
(you won’t believe who I saw there)
send conspiratorial text or two; update facebook
get some vino, and the kid - shoot back home
knock back another glass of wine;
have a gossip on the phone
revving engine on the driveway: dinner’s bell
pour a cobra; grab a takeout menu
domestic bliss? suburban hell?
I am vulnerable, confused, flawed, twisted
I am what I am.
I don’t want to cook,
don’t want to clean.
I don’t want to be
A wife or a mother.
I choose what I will not be.
I can wear a six yard
or a two piece
I can shun style
And chose comfort instead.
I decide to look how I feel.
I may soar, I may burrow,
I may sail smooth
Or dive deep with in
I steer my life as per my wish.
Do not give me names
nor assign roles,
do not set standards
and place me in boxes.
I am not a commodity.
You are not the creator.
We are but children of Nature
Unbound by roles,
Both wild and free.
Let us embrace isness
and create some harmony.
We are Latino, We are Hispanic, We are Black, Asian, Indian, Muslim
We are everything, everybody is everything
Yet you call me a terrorist, a rapist, a thief, someone who “destroys society”
Although I am ashamed to admit that we make mistakes
Our reputation falls apart with every bad apple
Like the one domino that pushes the rest down
On and on
But they can’t get back up unless someone picks them up
No one has picked us up yet
Today, we push ourselves off the cracks in the cement sidewalk
And get back up
All they’ve seen is the dominoes falling down
But they haven’t paid attention to us
When we were so carefully set up to avoid toppling over
Like our confidence when our toes hit the asphalt road
That the metal we fear isn’t going to wrap around our wrists
Like the stares that bite through my self-esteem
Spinning in and out of existence
As the curses strangers jinx me with carve into my back
Wishing that I could “leave their country”
Or asking why I am who I am
Does it really make a difference whether your skin is dark or light?
Does it make a difference if you’re Latino, Hispanic, Black, Asian, Indian, Muslim
Or anything you are?
We will not be the dominoes that fall over with a single blow
We will not push each other down
We will stand strong with our hearts above our heads
We will be us, ignoring our differences because
Everybody is everything
why be different?
you may dare to ask,
but question to you is,
why bow down and look like an ass?
after the stench of the alchohol lifts and the headache subsides,
there will still be all your friends effected right by your side,
now im not saying that these are rules by which anybody has to abide,
juss saying that when you just give in to fit in it makes you look like a donkeys hide,
if your a good friend of mine and that happens,
in my eyes,
all you stand upon is a giant bookstack of lies,
this may be a hard pill to swallow for some,
but then again if it is, you are probably the one,
that im trying to reach with this poem,
so dont grab my words like dead leaves and throw them,
instead embrace them and try and understand what i write,
maybe you just dont have what im saying in your sight,
but if you just give in to the stereotype,
all you are in my eyes is something that just isnt quite right.
THATS REAL.
Stereotypes
So now you join an equality club and think you’re an activist
You seriously wanna get hired but now a high school graduate
It’s really really sad that it even had to come down to this
Oh my God!!
You going against racism, profiling, and produce brutality
But behind closed doors you killin yo own, this I reality
Can’t wear a colored scarf in public, it’s the hood mentality
Just because you wear that color they shoot. Got the audacity?
Back in the day they made us work for free, manual labor
But nowadays you can’t even get a job. Do me a favor?
Pull up ya’ pants, fix ya’ collar. That’s what they pay attention to.
You try to get a job, they dismiss you before the interview.
We got it hard being black, yo.
The hatred and the despise.
Shout out to the Central Park five
And Korey Wise
Not like the other guys. Only there for support
And we here today in and outta court
Man quit goin’ to jail.
How you help your family?
Gotcha “baby momma” workin’ 2, 3 jobs. This is a tragedy.
You think you get all these chances? No, man this is insanity.
You get one chance to get it right, then you’re in the system.
Police shot a man, thought a brush was a gun, now po po po the victim.
No I’m not dissing you, just giving words of wisdom.
Don’t give in to the stereotypes. It’ll ruin your life.
They can’t wait to call you an animal because you got in a fight
They called us monkeys and that n-word, and you here repeating it.
Can’t find anything else to say? It’s like the insult...hmmm... you’re needing it.
You should be a part of a movement-matter of fact- you should be leading it.
Instead of calling each other that, you should be defeating it.
Yes, the world can get outta hand. But it’s all according to God’s plan.
So don’t try to change destiny and end another life man.
Hey you! what do you do, what's your name,
and why you seem so weird;
Why so silent and timid like a deer,
Why you don't act like us, why you won't interact with us;
Do you have any problems or any underlying fears?
Alas, you enquired my friend,
All your stereotypes have hurt me badly,
As spectacular as this world is,
just see through my rimmed spectacles
how unfair were you sadly,
gladly I held my own, like a horse with blinders on,
spending my nights chasing the dawn.
I reflect back and smile,
not meek but rather unique,
I was, not a pawn a knight I was,
at times in life, you need to sit back and reflect,
the pain would go away slowly,
cause it's easy to hurt but takes time to heal.
A little while ago on my morning walk I wondered, how can this be?
when a black cat came out of the shadows to say hello…to me
Without any inhibitions…in the middle of the street
she ran up and when I looked down…she was purring at my feet.
I bent down to scratch her back…”Hello little kitty." I said.
She mewed her own Good Morning…then let me scratch her head.
We chatted for a while then when there was nothing more to say
I stood up, said “Goodbye…and we both went on our way.
The next morning on my walk I again wondered how can this be
when up ahead…there in the street…that same cat was waiting for me.
This is something I didn’t expect…I could have never foreseen
but when I finally reached her…we followed the day before’s routine.
And now most days there is this black cat…sitting in the middle of the street
patiently waiting for me…and who I always stop to greet.
Most of the cats I see on my walk…when I say ‘hi’ or have a good day
usually act as if I wasn’t there…or deliberately look away.
And I was brought up believing my day would be filled with wrath
if at any time during that day…a black cat crossed my path.
But this little cat has taught me different…though I still don’t know her name
she’s taught me not to judge…for not all cats are the same.
And since I’ve had good luck since meeting her I think it would be fair
not to judge another cat…by the color of their hair.
I think about this at least once a day…when I bend down to greet
and scratch the head and chat a while…with my black cat in the street.
This poem is dedicated to Cassidy Megan, the founder of Purple Day.
Canadianie, take my lavender ribbon:
I will stretch it to you, my dear, from Russian coasts.
My "Hallelujah!" will at once be free-born
As soon as you reply those loud and distant calls.
I write about the Western very rarely
But this is not your case, undoubtedly, dear.
Don't answer like ice-crust, I ask, I beg you!
Open the secret, kind soul! I would like to hear!
Don't be afraid: the ribbon is not poisoned
But there is Holy water and some chrism.
Don't hide in snow floor, and don't hide in noise, and
Come to my land! Give bravery through your prism!
I'd share my health with you to make my great dream
Come true! Canadianie! Please, tell me what to do!
Well, on the whole, I ask: let's be a straight team
So that my land with me is like your land with you!
Everybody likes flowers right,
Except children who were violated in bedrooms with flowered wallpaper.
Oh.
Everyone loves faeries right?
Except a sensitive young twelve-year-old boy who was called one.
Right.
Everyone likes to nap, right?
Have you ever met a two-year old?
Everyone is the craziest word ever.
It should be eliminated.
Unless you are speaking of air, water, and food.
Her disappointment
Has outlasted her a lifetime
She now hates all men
Because of one awful man
Stereotyping sadness
The country is changing is what they say,
But does the outlook of people actually count?
Still, that old stereotypical mindset is what they display,
Letting the entire mankind down.
One steps out, and there they are, umpteen scanning eyes,
Golden highlights, ripped jeans, short skirt is what catches their sight,
A new way discovered by the crowd to characterize,
Having no one around to tell that everything's alright.
Wardrobe malfunction is the next new crime,
Gawking them, making them feel victimized,
Informing them can also work sometimes,
But here in the changing country, it can never be recognised.
One ends up doing outdoor activities indoor,
Reason being all the unnecessary ogles,
Why not engage in some household chores?
Allowing others to relax their ankles.
As long as the country comprises the people,
The concept of changing country remains a big lie,
If at all it becomes illegal,
Maybe then the mass would give it a try.