they, too, sing america

i don’t get why people are so worked up about immigration

trembling stirrings deep in the bellies of couch potatoes
screaming
i’m not racist; i’m american
& not understanding the sad irony of that statement
ignoring a certain chapter in u.s. history class:
the irish
italians
southern blacks
northern carpetbaggers
eastern european jews
and lord have mercy, the chinese!
have all been run thru the same xenophobic gauntlet

the thing that we used to pride ourselves on
“a nation of great opportunity”
is the very thing we’re trying to deny
people closely descended from indigenous pan-americans
brown mestizos
(‘cause be real, this ain’t about the fair-skinned)
so let’s call it what it is & deal with it from there:
fear
of being outnumbered
of having to learn their language
of praying to la virgin instead of ol’ white beard
of a covert operation to reverse the gadsden purchase &
treaty of guadalupe hidalgo

if so-called illegals were gonna take over
they would’ve done it by now
poisoning food in fields & restaurants
booby-trapping plumbing & appliances
tucking razors into hospital-cornered beds

all i know is
when i talk to students without documents
about their dreams & aspirations
i hear human stories
community stories
american stories
that aren’t diluted because they
love soccer or sopes or sinaloa

the threat to america
is from within:
fear of evolution

i am the darker brother.
they send me to eat in the kitchen
when company comes
but i laugh/and eat well,
and grow strong.
tomorrow/i'll be at the table
when company comes.
nobody'll dare/say to me,
"eat in the kitchen"/then...
i, too, am america.
(langston hughes)



photo from reuters