Separate Rules For Brown Boys Poem by Jacqueline Czel

You see brown boys
can't do normal teenage
things, it isn't allowed,
a party, a gathering,
lingering enmass
because it's assumed
they can't come together
peacefully in crowds
and it's never called
just making music,
hanging out or dancing
or picking up girls
brown boys in groups
always labeled gangs,
should know better,
it's not their world.
You see brown boys
can't ever be angry or
plain old dumb or 17
and taking late night
walks outside for it's
automatically assumed
they are dangerous with
something to hide, or
dealing or wielding guns,
eternal outsiders, on
the prowl or the run.
Brown boys can't be
young fools or foolish
or break simple rules,
it isn't part of America's
500 hundred year old
cache of tools used
to corral and control
brown boys who aren't
treated like citizens or
error making young
men with curious minds,
young hearts and souls.