Polictical Climate

I am a male
It is supposed to mean that I hate and rape women
Traits like tenderness and love are foreign to me
I'm obsessed with my penis
And life is a cakewalk

I am Black
Or I guess more honestly I am mixed
Tainted with Italian blood
Or black depending on how you were raised
It  means more often than not I acted "too white" for the black kids
And "too black" for the white kids

I was taught in-depth and at an early age that when the officer says stop
You just Stop
And fight for your rights some time later
Not with fists but with briefcases
When guns aren't present
And the pews are filled

I was neglected the indulgence of tears when the world was unfair
Squared up with the obstacles in front of me
And accepted (not to be confused with agreed)
With a pat on the head from my father
And hug from my mother
That I will just have to work harder and better than every one else
Because of the melanin that wraps around my skeleton
Because we refused to let arbitrary concepts like genetics lead me to reach for the clouds
When I could shoot for the stars

I am an American born Mexican
Which means that I was a juvenile delinquent guilty by association
Was tooth-smacked at for not speaking in the tongue with the same indignation that others did
I was a point of intrigue (or suspect speculation) at any store I walked into
And the butt of juan too many jokes

I am a Christian
Which means if I am to fit my stereotype
I think all of the LGBTQ should go to hell
The devil looks like Neil De Grasse Tyson
And Muslims should be eradicated

But can we take a step back and see that
Generalizations and assumptions regardless of who says them are stupid?

Is my struggle any lesser than your own?

You cannot compare intangibles to intagibles
And both sides of every issue should know by now that
Being so dominating makes it near impossible to build bridges
Especially when the shifting stones you throw are the very platform
On which you intend to build a foundation

When you blind yourself with rage and cast stones...

You ignore the fact that I was sexually abused by another female child
When I was in the fourth grade
And beaten and objectified by women I trusted

You ignore that I wanted to feel like I belonged and felt nothing but alone.

You ignore the fact that I am a human too.
I love
Suffer loss
Am far from perfect
And have to find my way just like you.

More broadly
My people were mass murdered
Enslaved
Scapegoated
Smoked out and choked out by wildfires of biggotry and false accusation
And yet I can find it within myself to let go
And under all the dead leaves and ashe
Find within my heart nothing but forgiveness

Though sometimes it takes me a little longer than others

Disagreeing with somebody and hating them
I swear
Have become synonymous these days
As if differences of opinion are anything but simply differences in opinion

You call people who oppress you monsters and beasts
Cracking whips at these social tigers
And are surprised when you are not met with open-mindedness and a gentle pur
Upon stepping into the cage

There is a better way we can go about all this.

Justice isn't punishing a son and daughter for the sins of their mothers and fathers
Handicapping a group
Or casting slurs
Justice is doing what is RIGHT
Not what feels GOOD

When you try and guilt somebody into cooperation you do not foster acceptance
You simply instill obligation

Revenge is for the shortsighted

Forgiveness is for the strong and hopeful that one day we can stand united

We don't need people up in arms and pointing sniper rifle and flak cannon
Tongues at each other in guerilla warfare
What we need is a body of people who will pull the gun apart
Smash the contents of the bullets on their rock-trellised
And thickly calloused hearts
And with the gunpowder
Spark a fire that we can all warm our hands around

Now hear this

I know that this is not the easy solution.
It's not even the fastest solution.
But it is the only one that makes sense.