Chalk Outline - 3/23/13

If you had to draw me, you'd use the darkest charcoal you could find.
Deep down, you would rather draw me with a chalk outline.
And that would be rather fitting,
Since the White version of me is all you see while I'm living.
I'm a thug on sight.
My pants are supposed to sit so low that my boxers are in plain sight,
And the rest my preferred attire is a tall t-shirt that's white, right?
I'm a violent killer that sells silent killers to my people?
A monkey that cannot reason beyond the option to be lethal?
A dark mark on any business that employs me?
Constantly tardy,
And since I can't relate to them, my coworkers hardly enjoy me?
I'm just a lazy bum since the government pays me a sum?
A deadbeat father that won't even visit his son?
An ignorant, belligerent, degenerate?
All of that, and more, is the chalk outline I've been living with.
I was never found dead in the street,
But a crime scene is what I've been dealing with.
I'm not allowed to leave the murder of my reputation behind.
Four walls of yellow tape have created a myopic paradigm.
I was outlined in chalk at birth,
Told what type of Black man I could be.
The crime scene tape read 'violence, sex, drugs, and entertainment,'
As that was all I was ever meant to see.
That was all that was ever meant for me.
I was to be swallowed by darkness,
Chasing a light I could never reach.
Stereotypes were shackles placed around my mind,
While hope was an idea that was difficult to teach.
My life was to be simply black and white,
As if this world isn't filled with colors...
But I soon learned that most aren't concerned with the success of brothers.
Not when they ostracize and profit off of the 'reality' of our mothers,
While targeting and incarcerating our fathers.
Not when we're either good helpers or great bothers.
A stereotype of any kind can permeate any mind,
Turning a first impression into the worst impression one can find.
Even if untrue, stereotypes canvass the mind for prejudice, then bind.
Ironically, they're like black holes looking for a place to shine,
Where they can house dark thoughts that keep you from seeing a light like mine.
And that's appropriate,
Since if you had to draw me, you'd use the darkest charcoal you could find.
Deep down, you would rather draw me with a chalk outline.
Such is my plight.
It could mean only one of two things:
I'm dead or defined by White.

-A. Lewis