The Colour Of A Negro Poem by Deborah Greene

Beaten and Broken. Captured and enslaved;
My heart's filled with fear, anguish, and much rage.
Belittled and berated. Mistreated and harasshed;
Pushed aside and forgotten like yesterday's trash.
Demoralized and bewildered. Raped and misused;
Stolen from my motherland to be forsaken and abused.
Brought to a country that is different from my home;
Sold off like cattle for you and others to own.
Skin as dark as night, it sealed my misguided fate;
It brought about separation and caused you to hate
The persons we became when allowed to be free men;
But racism still remains. It's the same now as then.
It's hidden under the guise of 'separate, but equal'-
Hatred is hatred and you're still targeting my people.
We were forced to live and work in substandard conditions;
Not recognized for our worth. When will it come to fruition?
Hung by the neck for the different color of my skin.
Being darker than my owner had been my only sin.
Chased down like a dog if I desired to be free.
Hung high with a rope from the nearest hanging tree.
Not allowed to be the human God made us to be;
You-were the master and yet you hated me.
Forced to remain uneducated and not allowed to learn.....
Keeping me a captive was your biggest concern.
Not much has changed since the time of Jim Crow;
Being treated less than equal is the colour of a Negro.

(Nov.9,2010, Moncks Corner, SC)