Profiling

Pretty brown skin, girl you know those boys love you

They say you have a “fat ass” so you should show them all a little something

No need for modesty, just show your body, be sexy

You’re a hot commodity so everybody wants a piece

They say it’s not racial profiling, they just want to see your beauty

But your beauty isn’t in your booty

Or the way you shake your hips,

How could they say such things with such vulgarity?

But you’ve been under the impression that it’s okay in this society

Who cares if they make sly comments? It’s all a joke right? In this society

Yes, it’s twisted that we see it but we’re still too blind to see,

That every black boy and girl isn’t someone’s baby’s mama or baby’s daddy

So we’ll sit back and ponder which one is their reality

“Will they cook, do hair, or have several kids?” Are the only versions of their reality

Little Shonequa is pretty for a darkskin girl. She’d look pretty if she was light, for a darkskin girl

So little Shonequa is gonna cry, because she’s a darkskin girl

Paint herself white, bleach herself- no more “Pretty for a darkskin girl.”

She didn’t love her shade because all of those who threw shade about a girl pretty who was

“Pretty for a darkskin girl.”

And all the while that same society is saying, “Be comfortable in your skin, you’re perfect just the way you are.”

But they depict subliminal images of only skinny naked light girls with big breasts thus far

 

So how can she love herself the way that she are, when everything thing that’s supposedly beautiful around her is different from what she sees in the mirror

So little Shonequa is gonna start calling herself Shay, because Shonequa is too stereotypical for a

“Pretty dark skin” bae

Shonequa is the name of a girl who was born and raised in the ghetto

Shonequa is the name of a girl who can’t properly say words like intellectual

Shonequa is the name of a “pretty for a darkskin girl” who is far from anything less than intellectual

But it’s funny and a game when a teacher can’t even pronounce her name

And the class will giggle along and she’ll pretend it’s okay

It’s simple things like this that goes on everyday, and when someone calls society on their bull shit, its “There they go pulling the race card again”

So Shonequa who is now Shay is gonna shut the hell up, and slowly change her ways

To conform to a society that says “Pretty for a darkskin girl, she should be lighter anyway”

 

Now I’m not going to front like colorism is only a thing for colored people,

It is a thing that happens on the regular to even other regular people

Like little Samantha who is pretty because she’s  white, smart for the same

Little Samantha is going to go far, because white privilege is her ticket to fame

Little do they know, Little Samantha was abandoned at birth, left to fight for herself all alone in this world against the evil forces at work

Little Samantha grew up, working her ass off.

Fought off drug addicts and sex addicts

Could’ve grown up a crack addict, a sex addict,

but she put her best foot first to become a knowledge addict

Always thirsting for knowledge, so she works at it.

Samantha works her ass off to be good at it.

And yes she does see the balance of society tipping, she sees  the politicians and the money that they be dipping their fingers in

And while we are all human, they all seem to wear the same color of face;

The only color they’re wearing is a luxurious corrupted colored paste

So Samantha continues to uphold herself, working through all her obstacles,

She makes a true living off of stress, sweat, tears, and elbow grease,

Not letting people see her sweat, not even perspiration on her brow

But the only thing society is gonna show is her “white privileged” background

And society is gonna be satisfied with racial profiling because it helps them sleep at night

Little did they know Little Samantha feels like she’s barely going to survive

 

And the point of this all is that colorism isn’t blind to any color of your cries

Colorism is just another way of living in society’s eyes

It hurts everyone everyday of the year,

But it is up to us whether we’re going to relax about it or change up the gears

All odds are never in just one person’s favor,

Not even if they say the darker the berry the sweeter the flavor,

Not even if they say the lighter the berry the better the behavior,

Because we were all born human, with the same endoskeleton

So like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, let’s be judged by the content of our character,

What’s a skin color? We’re all the same with or without her

 

This poem is about: 
My community
My country
Our world

Comments

damagedwriter

This is such a great poem

Kwanasia

Thank you very much!

alysia gritz

Deep and dope. 

 

Kwanasia

Thank you!!

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