A Note from the Writer: This poem was written during the height of the 2021 succession of hate crimes against Asian-Americans. Drowning in the news as updates were coming out, I couldn’t grasp why life was like this. America is one of the most diverse countries in the entire world, and yet there were (and still are) thousands of bigoted people who still live with backward ideals. Innocent people, because of the amounts of melanin in their skin, are treated so differently. And the worst part is, we live under the guise that racism is the relic of the past in our country. Yet statistics show that racism is as prevalent as ever, if only more quiet. We only ever address it when a spectacle occurs; Even then, after a few months, the rest of the country has moved on to the next big story, leaving systemic racism stagnant as ever. So please- do your part. Give people of color control over their own narrative. Fight back against the backward ideas that plague our nation. If you see injustice, say something. And most of all, educate yourself.

This story was originally published on Liberty Ledger on May 5, 2021.