They Tell Me

They tell me racism doesn't exist anymore
So tell me why that white man
Pulled a gun on me and said
   "Nigger get away from my store"
They tell me racism doesn't exist anymore
But these confederate flags still fly
And nooses still hang from trees on their property lines
Or my school's mascot was a colonel with a whip
But they tell me racism doesn't exist
When I enter a room they change the way they talk
They think it will be easier to relate because of my race
As I speak with intellect surprise comes over their face
But they still insist
The ism by which I am judged is not my race....

By
The Poet Q