White Mom
Thank you, Mom
For the mayonnaise
Plastered on me
Like a filter to hide
My blood
Thank you, Mom
For the twang
Ingrained in me
Like a poison to quiet
My possibility
Thank you, Mom
For the black, red, and gold
Hidden in me
Like an assurance to
My oppressiveness
Thank you, Mom
For the Midwest
Surrounding me
Like a cage to keep out
My diversity
Thank you, Mom
For my white skin
For my English language
For my German roots
For my enclosed upbringing
Thank you, Mom
For making me miss the days it was easier to turn brown and remember I am a woman of color
Thank you, Mom
For making me kick myself in the ass repeatedly for taking French class instead of Spanish
Thank you, Mom
For making me feel guilty for wondering why my brother put the Mexican flag above his bed because it wasn’t like we were taught a damn thing about our less-than-privileged half
Thank you, Mom
For making me sick to my stomach being raised like a fully white girl because that’s all you knew how to do
Thank you, Mom
For making me have access to white privilege that I will always have but never quite appreciate for the sake of a hispanic surname
Thank you, Mom
For making me constantly forget my biracial truth
Reminding,
No,
Insisting to the world
“I AM LATINA”
Begging
To feel like
To be seen as
To simply be
Authentically me
From a Mexican grandmother
From a Puerto Rican grandfather
From a half-Mexican half-Puerto-Rican father
Who for whatever fucking reason
Was never told
Never taught
The Spanish language
Who for whatever fucking reason
Can’t handle
Won’t handle
Traditionally spicy foods
Who for whatever fucking reason
Has never
Only ever had
White wives
Who for whatever fucking reason
Wasn’t taught enough
Wasn’t taught enough
About his own culture
To pass it on to us
To pass it on to me
Me
A half-white half-latina
Disgrace
Thank you,
Mom
For being a white mom
The only mom you could possibly be
The only mom that you never questioned you could be
The only mom that saw her children’s heritage as a simple fact
The only mom that could have should have made an effort to make that fact feel real
The only mom
I’ll ever have
No thank you, Dad
For being the Latino parent
When it should have been her, instead.