Photo from Rodney King beating.An Incidentally Anti-Woke Poem from 1992 by Kevin Shearer The Society April 6, 2023 Culture, Found Poem, Poetry 7 Comments . Race and Color, 1992 I see white and you see black and other shades of skin in fact. Though we have different colored skin, we’re very much alike within. Our blood is red and I must say: “We love and hurt no different way”. All humans grow in mother’s womb where race and color have no room! Race and color limit us __in vision of each other. For you to See the real me, __look past my race and color. Race and color blinds the man __who can’t see I’m his brother. We’re from one tree: Humanity! __It grows all race and color. . . NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Trending now: 7 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson April 6, 2023 One of the best antidotes to Wokes. Racism is not a one-way street as proved by Woke propaganda. Reply Cheryl Corey April 6, 2023 Unfortunately, Kevin, there are those who are obsessed with color. Reply Cynthia Erlandson April 6, 2023 Very well said — thank you, Kevin. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant April 7, 2023 Kevin, it’s most interesting to see this poem with a spot-on message was written in 1992. I believe that because of insidious political ideologies the racial divide has widened. I also note you mention a ‘mother’s womb’… we have now moved on to a ‘birthing person’s womb’ – women are obsolete. I believe 1992 was still vaguely in touch with reality… since then we are treading paths of insanity I didn’t know existed. Your poem has made me nostalgic… I fear I’ve enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. Thank you very much for keeping the sentiment of Martin Luther King Jr. alive in a world that does its best to bury his message. Reply Patricia April 7, 2023 These are precepts we know so well. It’s so sad MLK’s message has been muffled over the din ofBLM and Antifa.and,,violence! Or the utter madness as so painfully exhibited in the Tennessse legislature yesterday, when a legislor compared himself to Jesus Christ? Racism is pushed by this current US ptrsident. I know you heard of playing the race card? If one is Caucasian, one is now branded as evil by the far left, who need to look in the mirror, to see, they also have a huge Caucacasian membership. Conservatine blacks are vilified? Like Judge Clarence Thomas. Our society needs to honor color political and religious differences. In memory ofDr, King, I do thank you. Patricia Reply Ja May 2, 2023 This is what happened when you let white people teach black history (often to black people): MLK did not preach this colorblind rhetoric that liberals and conservatives are so in love with, rather, he was well aware that America would never embody the vision he had for it. Unfortunately, in the real world, it’s just not enough to say: “We’re all the same deep down. It’s just skin, bro. There, racism is fixed, you can stop talking about racism now, black people.” It’s the workings of privilege that you can even casually brush off the subject, to begin with. Meanwhile, as a black man, every day of my life will and has been heavily influenced by the racism of the present and past. Whether it’s the racism embedded in the systems I live under or just how black culture is the way it is because we entered this country in chains. I get it, you’re probably white and can afford not to think about this kind of thing but history doesn’t work in this clean-cut fashion you think it does where slavery is over here and present-day America is over there. It’s just not that simple no matter what you tell yourself. Reply Joshua C. Frank April 7, 2023 It is sad that our culture no longer believe this message from about 30 years ago. Somehow the idea changed from “it doesn’t matter what color you are” to “you’re bad if you’re white.” Maybe the former was never really believed by the powers that be in the first place, but only used as a smokescreen to usher in the latter. I don’t know about anyone else, but I miss the world of 1992. While earlier times than that were better still, at least 1992 wasn’t as crazy. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson April 6, 2023 One of the best antidotes to Wokes. Racism is not a one-way street as proved by Woke propaganda. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant April 7, 2023 Kevin, it’s most interesting to see this poem with a spot-on message was written in 1992. I believe that because of insidious political ideologies the racial divide has widened. I also note you mention a ‘mother’s womb’… we have now moved on to a ‘birthing person’s womb’ – women are obsolete. I believe 1992 was still vaguely in touch with reality… since then we are treading paths of insanity I didn’t know existed. Your poem has made me nostalgic… I fear I’ve enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. Thank you very much for keeping the sentiment of Martin Luther King Jr. alive in a world that does its best to bury his message. Reply
Patricia April 7, 2023 These are precepts we know so well. It’s so sad MLK’s message has been muffled over the din ofBLM and Antifa.and,,violence! Or the utter madness as so painfully exhibited in the Tennessse legislature yesterday, when a legislor compared himself to Jesus Christ? Racism is pushed by this current US ptrsident. I know you heard of playing the race card? If one is Caucasian, one is now branded as evil by the far left, who need to look in the mirror, to see, they also have a huge Caucacasian membership. Conservatine blacks are vilified? Like Judge Clarence Thomas. Our society needs to honor color political and religious differences. In memory ofDr, King, I do thank you. Patricia Reply
Ja May 2, 2023 This is what happened when you let white people teach black history (often to black people): MLK did not preach this colorblind rhetoric that liberals and conservatives are so in love with, rather, he was well aware that America would never embody the vision he had for it. Unfortunately, in the real world, it’s just not enough to say: “We’re all the same deep down. It’s just skin, bro. There, racism is fixed, you can stop talking about racism now, black people.” It’s the workings of privilege that you can even casually brush off the subject, to begin with. Meanwhile, as a black man, every day of my life will and has been heavily influenced by the racism of the present and past. Whether it’s the racism embedded in the systems I live under or just how black culture is the way it is because we entered this country in chains. I get it, you’re probably white and can afford not to think about this kind of thing but history doesn’t work in this clean-cut fashion you think it does where slavery is over here and present-day America is over there. It’s just not that simple no matter what you tell yourself. Reply
Joshua C. Frank April 7, 2023 It is sad that our culture no longer believe this message from about 30 years ago. Somehow the idea changed from “it doesn’t matter what color you are” to “you’re bad if you’re white.” Maybe the former was never really believed by the powers that be in the first place, but only used as a smokescreen to usher in the latter. I don’t know about anyone else, but I miss the world of 1992. While earlier times than that were better still, at least 1992 wasn’t as crazy. Reply
