Am I racist?[1]
Directions: Please answer truthfully.
- I believe in being color blind[2]
a. False
b. True
2. White people should be able to say the N Word[3]
a. False
b. True
3. White Power[4] is the same as Black Power
a. False
b. True
4. There is no such thing as White privilege[5]
a. False
b. True
5. The Civil War wasn’t about slavery
a. False
b. True[6]
If you answered mostly a,
you are doing the bare minimum
If you answered mostly b,
you are racist.
If you have to take tests like these
a. You probably are a racist
b. You use the mere presence of black bodies as a defense
c. You want a quick answer without dealing with your privilege[7]
d. You have more work to do.
[1] If you have to ask, yes
[2] everyone ain’t equal
[3] if you can’t even spell it don’t say it
[4] you say white power, i’m looking for your hood
[5] privilege don’t mean you don’t have it hard,
it means you won’t get followed in a store like the black boy with his hood up
[6] I have you right where I want you.
Check the Constitution of the confederacy
where the enslaved are 3/5th of a person
and required new territories to continue slavery
and try again
[7] Thanks for playing, you main character YT
with token friends who asks your token friends
all the racist questions with I’m not racist but as a buffer
before you even say hello.
[1] If you have to ask, yes
[2] everyone ain’t equal
[3] if you can’t even spell it don’t say it
[4] you say white power, i’m looking for your hood
[5] privilege don’t mean you don’t have it hard,
it means you won’t get followed in a store like the black boy with his hood up
[6] I have you right where I want you.
Check the Constitution of the confederacy
where the enslaved are 3/5th of a person
and required new territories to continue slavery
and try again
[7] Thanks for playing, you main character YT
with token friends who asks your token friends
all the racist questions with I’m not racist but as a buffer
before you even say hello.
Ashley Elizabeth (she/her) is a writing consultant, teacher, and writer from Baltimore, MD. Her works have appeared in SWWIM, Santa Fe Writers Project, and Kissing Dynamite, among others. Ashley's first chapbook collection, you were supposed to be a friend, is available from Nightingale & Sparrow. When Ashley isn't teaching, editing, or working as a co-founder of the Estuary Collective, providing low- to no-cost programming and a safe space for BIPOC writers, she habitually posts on Twitter and Instagram. She lives with her partner and their cats.
Art: The Luxury Box, oil and acrylic on canvas, Rebecca Pyle
Originally published in Alexandria Quarterly.
Originally published in Alexandria Quarterly.