Whitewashed

I want to understand

To step from the safety of the sidelines

Into the struggle and

Know

My privilege is blindness

Trained to look past

Not ask

For fear of being impolite

Our wounds are bleeding

Thin skinned scars of failure

Breaking open

You cannot bandage the father

In hopes of healing the son.

There is great reward in control

If power is what you covet 

To rewrite history

To determine who and what is learned

Fear is airborne

Broadcasted

Manipulation of conversation

With a twist of truth

Whitewashed

In teaching tolerance

They have sabotaged the possibility of acceptance

Sweeping differences under the rug

While they stare us down 

Expecting us to forsake

That that defines us

To keep the peace

In the face of unadulterated injustice

We stand on the sidelines ignorant

Indifferent 

Absolved of responsibility

As another city burns

Natasha Head

Days like this...there's been far, far too many lately.