Poem: We Are Too
Source: https://feminacida.com.ar/racismo-en-america-latina-relatos-en-primera-persona/
By Daniela Díaz Azcúnaga
We Are Too
Dear Latin American,
we judge the racist actions of the United States
not seeing we’re also the problem
of the very thing we condemn;
if we share the same reality
with a long history of pain
why do we claim diversity
if we also incite to reprehend.
We fought the privilege
of a crown in our lands,
then, weightily,
say we don’t carry those same scars.
In all our innocent jokes
we wear our best disguise
pretending not to see the colour
on which we later act upon.
How foolish is our pride
rejoicing continental nationalism,
the irony that Jose Martí’s aspiration
would hide another caste system.
What kind of mind is odder
than ours who celebrate death,
and then do nothing when
our coloured family ends up there.
Afro descendant, Asian and Indigenous Latin Americans
we all claim to hold equal state,
but if they err, we reprehend
we still punish even if they do us well.
Latin America bleeds mestizaje,
it pumps life to our rich soils,
how can we then label someone too indigenous,
and Afro or Asian descendants not part of us.
We are always so foolish,
our judging of others unfair;
while we blame one for cruelty
we’re here playing the same game.
Why must melanin
come at an expense?
Why must one be outraged
of dehumanising attacks on race?
Who has embraced
the greater blame of our deeds?
Them, who, put down with force, fall,
or their children, who have never been allowed to stand up?
Who is more to blame,
our brothers and sisters who blind
themselves from their own racist judgment?
Or those who use that same judgment to blind others?
Do not claim to be outraged
at a situation of our own doing;
speak out to the injustice of others
but admit with courage our own coloured scars.
The cries in the United States give wings
to our brothers and sisters:
They have ignited the spark of an anger flame
We now have the opportunity to amend our intolerantmistakes.
We carry a complex and mixed
inherited past.
Learn that we are more a kaleidoscope
than a crystal-clear glass.
We are diverse, complex and culturally rich
but inherently,
we all should be equal
to everybody else.
Leave off our embellishment
of a diverse identity,
and, with greater cause,
admit we too, are racist
Daniela is a Mexican student, currently in her second year of BA in Liberal Arts with a major in Politics at King’s College. She enjoys writing about environmental and social justice affairs, especially those concerning minority groups such as women, children or indigenous groups.