The Miseducation of Black Folks

a poem by DeShane Short

When we speak, do they not hear us enunciate properly to where every vowel & consonant is heard. Do they think we still speak in tongues like we just got off the boat from Ethiopia into the land of the free?

When we write, do they not see our penmanship given by our great-great grandmother who taught their ancestors how to spell their names that we weren’t deemed worthy of getting. Do they think we write in Hebrew, or not write at all?

When we walk, do they not see us try to assimilate to walk on the same street as them, do they think they are going to catch HIV from being near us? Do they think we should be separate and not equal?

When we jog, do they not see us trying to relieve the stress of going to the store or restaurant being stocked by people due to our melanin. Do they think when they see Afro-Americans run, we are running from a crime of murder and deserve a bullet in our thick skull?

When we bleed, do they not see the blood of human flesh, just of a darker skin pigment? Do they think we don’t bleed, don’t have a heart, are we beast wrapped on a tight lease?

When we are dying on the tv, do they think it's fake news of a liberal media brainwashing people? Do they think we have to be put down like a wounded dog, a mercy killing to help further the human race? A soul that needs to be reborn; a body that needs to be washed in flames?

When will they see us? Will they see us when arriving and entering the gates of heaven, or will they be stunned by the vision of Yeshua’s face and skin that don’t resemble them?

DeShane Short (he/ him) is a proud Afro-American male from New Kent, Virginia who is currently a student at Longwood University, where he is majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing with an interest in poetry and non-fiction. Minoring in children’s literature and communication studies. DeShane hopes to pursue an MFA in creative writing.