When it comes down to race.

I was born a race I never wanted to be

I was born into a family that taught me

Fear

Should be my friend

And distrust

My guide.

To tread lightly with the strangers I met.

The humans who walked the earth

With white skin,

With a pale face.

I was born told that I was never going to be.

Be enough for those who were born

Superior to me.

Some people are born into a privilege that I’ll never have.

I was born to accept this fact.

I have always been afraid to be called racist

For my constant thought

That my skin makes me the less than.

For the truth

That directors tend to pick

The comfortable choice first.

Who would dare, to change the assumed race of a character.

Who would dare to change the assumption that is born into our skin.

Our brains.

Our hearts.

Nailed in by society.

When I went on my first date. I remember being asked if my partner was my sister.

From that day on, I feared loving someone who looked like me.

I never asked to be born into this.

I never asked to be born into a world that would fill me with self-hate.

To have my own parents

Shove the beauty standard down my throat.

They raised me to know, that I would never be the girl on tv.

They raised me to know that I would struggle to be seen,

As an equal,

Or less than.

I’ve always wanted to feel proud of the stories weaved into my skin.

I never asked to be born wishing I was someone else.