Blackening Of Face Topic Again Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

Blackening Of Face Topic Again



Blackening of face topic again
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
I read two interesting articles in The Globe and Mail (Sept 24th,2019)
And learnt that one's past must not intrude into the present
For many times, we are changed people and do not make the same mistakes again
I learnt that Pierre Elliot Trudeau had written a play which had anti-Semitic sentiments
As revealed by John English, the essay writer, and he also was vehemently opposed to the Second World War;

And an essay by Clyde Ford, the son of the first black American software engineer,
Discussed the sad plight of black slaves who came to Canada fleeing from racism in the USA
And were subjected to harsh conditions in Nova Scotia
And I tried to remember any literary instances of a hero or heroine blackening his or her face
In a poor attempt at trying to portray a black or brown character;

I was positive that Sherlock Holmes had a racist side to him
And the website, BlackGirlNerds, proved me right
But I thought I had remembered another episode
And looked up the excerpt published by the Penguin Random House Canada website selling Arthur Conan Doyle's The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes
And even dug up a biographical essay by Dorothy Dunnet on the delightful novelist, Georgette Heyer,
Published in The Washington Post;

Good fortune came to me in the thought that
Tall, dark and handsome, are desirable traits in a romantic hero
Which brings me to a coveted physical characteristic
That causes so much of disharmony among people;

I would like to draw attention to Jeremy Corbyn, the British Labour Party leader,
Who made me see the light of clarity in my vision of thinking
By saying that anti-racism, anti-misogyny and anti-religious extremism must be fought
But he had some feet of clay for he has been found to be anti-Semitic;

A long time back during my youth, I used to argue against the usage of epithet, the fairer sex,
For the presence of melanocytes in some of us tend to disprove the theory
But I think that it is a symbolic description of the better side of the character of women
Whose beauty erodes the darker sides of men
And I mean mothers, wives and daughters, etc;

I know PM Justin Trudeau shocked the nation with his admissions of blackening his face
To portray brown and black characters
But if he is genuinely contrite as he seems to be
Then we must accept him for what he was;

I jokingly thought to myself
That Chris Rock had blackened his face to prove a point
And I myself many a time turn brown as a berry in summer
Although I have a lightly tanned face because of my East Indian background;

However, good humour aside, anti-racism is still a part of society
And it must be frowned upon
In a democracy, equality of mankind and womankind is celebrated,
And a white man who dons a brown or black face
May be construed as mocking a natural trait in certain people.

Blackening Of Face Topic Again
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