Speaking Over, Saying Nothing
Vanessa Raney
Associate of Arts Student
Economics
Frederick Community College
E-mail: vraney709@myfcc.frederick.edu
There are graves in Rosewood;
these unmarked men and women
stigmatized by their dark skin,
were hunted when a white prostitute
claimed she was beaten by a negro.
The white men called it rape
and got away with murdering
a predominantly black town
on its way to prospering.
Then Katrina struck New Orleans;
the media painted unholy black
the poor widow(er)s of that city,
forgetting to draw the mirror
against the other colors there.
The American government
at every level imaginable
cared nothing about uplifting
class from out of the gutters,
instead hiding behind words.
We are always speaking over,
saying nothing. The other day
I read about the DREAM Act of 2007;
it calls for the children of illegals
to have the right of federal aid.
As R.G. Gonzales puts it,
“denying this opportunity
to undocumented students would send
precisely the wrong message to Hispanics
about the value of a college education.” [1]
We are talking about allocating funds
for people outside of the system –
and that excludes the legal residents,
visitors here who pay to be on visas,
and those of us born in this country –
but paint the face one shade
of intolerance and ignore the needs
of those minorities most in need,
and we leave them hollow.
Isn’t it time we got rid of the fodder?
References
[1] Gonzales, Roberto G. “Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students,” Immigration Policy in Focus 5, no. 13 (Oct. 2007): 1-11.
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