so...what ya tellin me, right now,
is that i'm catching flack because i'm black?
because my hair curls a bit more than yours?
& because i live at the wrong address?
ya tellin me that despite my college degree,
my eloquence,
& my professional dress,
the fact that i am damn near perfect for this job
& all the criteria the criteria i've met
you've looked past all that
& straight at my skin color.
stereotyping
whe i've risen above every stereotype you can thow my way:
i can read
& i have a high school diploma
NOT a GED: i didn't drop out, i stuck it out and graduate at the top of my class
but still you've looked past
the fact that i've attended institutions of tertiary education
here & abroad
& i've chosen to come back home to find a job
but yet you refuse to give me one
because my hair's locked and you're looking upon me with dread
but still i am unable to wrap my head around this
because, right now, ya tellin me that i can't have this job because of your close-mindedness
& inability to look past what you see on the outside of me
because if you cut my palm, i'll bled erd
& if you sliced me open, you'll see a heart that beats the same as yours
a brain that thinks, but not like yours
because i have the ability to look at you and refrain from judging or stereotyping
but you're making it hard for me not to
because you're telling me that i can't have this job because of my outward appearance
& ya tellin me that another person of my race can't work here
because her hips are too thick?
or because his nose is too wide?

forget a job description
just let us know that if we're not blonde haired & blue eyed
we need not apply.

i can't believe that this is what ya telling me...