race definitions
when i was a child
race was brought to me in
mouthfuls of differences and spit
when i was a child
there were
the negroid
the asiatic
and the caucasian
races
and sometimes there were the semites
to define the race of arab and jew
shared homeland being at the crossroads
where asia and africa and europe caress
negroid always seemed
the most durable
because whatever it mixed with
it stayed all the way colored
which when i was a child
only meant negro
or nigger
or creole
or black
or african
as in,
honey, you ain’t no african
you black just like me
since then i have
learned that race
as a way of defining
a true distinction
between human families
is a corrupt idealogy
that is based on a fear
of becoming
it is a bankrupt invention
of little merit
whose only purpose
is to cause dissention
and secure enslavement
it is a disease that spreads
race is the lie
there is no line
there is no border
there is no fundamental difference
like wet to dry
fire to ice
between us
race is the line you see
drawn on a map
a line that divides
mexico from the united states of america
the caribbean sea from the atlantic ocean
the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere
you will never find those lines
except on pieces of paper
they, like races
do not really exist
but then
when i was a child
race also meant
race you to the corner
or cars
or motorcycles
or horses
or dogs
or even rats
all driven by people
race meant
marathons
sprinters
and long distance runners
i still understand
that race
the noun
or the verb making concrete
the noun ideal – to race:
to pit one being against another
to see who gets to an arbitrary place
first
race is about speed
not nature
devorah major
from “street smarts”