My 11-year old son told me this white boy
around his age called him a nigger
not the “Oh, what’s up my nigga”
that white people try to sneak in
when they think they’ve been initiated in
but the “You nigger”
(no need for the history lesson)
Of course his parents justified
his behavior—claiming ADD
‘cause we’re just the niggers
they see they can manipulate
with the same words
they’ve trained their son to repeat
and know exactly who to repeat it to
Now I have to reprogram
the programmed script I’ve raised
my son by and explain
why I stress straight As
why I shove books in his face
why I tell him to study
at least an extra hour every day
why one day he may have to revert
back to the master/slave relationship
just so he won’t be a hashtag
with everyone posting his name for clout
while I’m clouded with just memories
because when he’s asked
to put his hands up
dared to make one sudden move
something as natural as a sneeze
will turn freeze into him falling to his knees
with no news cover story
claiming he possibly suffered
from mental instability
I have to explain to my 11-year old son
that he has to be 100 times better than
just to be seen as human
but still in their eyes
no matter the amount of awards or prizes
handed to him by them
to them he’ll still be nothing more
than a nigger
And on that day my 11-year old son
learned the true meaning of sticks and stones
maturely turned his other cheek
with the word nigger
staining his word bank
as his new vocabulary word for the week
Written by Pace Poetry
