I am colorblind
I never saw color in people
Until I was thirteen.
I saw on the news that a young black male was murdered because of his skin color
I didn't know that being black was a death wish.
Then when I was fourteen my father asked me
“Why do you hang around so many white people?”
I never thought of my friends as white, i just thought of them as my friends.
Until one of them says to me, “Does it feel weird being the only black one in the group?”
It was weird because I knew I was black but I never thought of myself as just black.
I never wanted to be just black, i just wanted to be a person.
A person free to talk to his friends without getting dirty looks from people.
A person that can love whoever they want
Regardless of how they looked.
A person who could walk down the street at night without worrying about being followed
By the police after someone called them because they felt threatened by me.
When suddenly i realized that it’s okay to be black because America relies on me to fail
But really, I’m the reason why America is succeeding
I am the cookie in the oreo that holds the cream together.
I am the dark sky that allows the stars to shine
And I understand now why our flag is striped with red and white.
Red like my ancestors blood that runs through this country
And white like the privilege my ancestors never got.
And I'm glad that I know more about my black history than I do math
Because I can't keep count of the number
Of black victims every year.
But it doesn’t matter what color I am
Or what I look like on the outside.
Because I’m still a human living and breathing like everyone else.
I am colorblind.