I've never fancied myself to be very interesting - brown hair, blue-eyed, tall, jaw line, Scandinavian-American,
and here we go again, exactly what you'd expect. Oh yeah, and the worst part: White. Christian. Male.
Surely you know us. The generic, apathetic, Caucasian-aestheticed, bro tank epidemic spreading,
highly favored people. Puffed up with plenty of pupils, pride, popularity, and pocket change.
Completely unprofiled. The privileged, pompous populous. Many pricked, as in...many pricks.
The "boys will be boys," "bros before hoes," everybody knows what we say goes, yeah, that's
right we run the show. So, what's interesting? I really don't know. I really don't know what
it's like to be afraid to walk home alone at night. I don't know what it's like for
the "Turn or Burn" protestors to be talking about me. I don't know what it's like to be
whistled at on the street, told I'm going to hell, or fear that an officer might actually
be a bad guy. A stranger has never called me "baby" or "heathen" or assumed that I never
knew my father. Heck, the only assumption anyone makes about me is that I'm already
making an assumption about them. I've never been paid less, told to weigh less, or prayed
for while feeling it was less of a kind gesture and more like a not-so-subtle reminder that
I've fallen short. I've never been told that I look like "that one white guy." I've never
been a minority, shoved into inferiority by public authority and the priority with their
seniority and superiority like an all-male sorority. I've never experienced love that
sure looks and walks and talks and feels a lot more like hate. I'm also straight.
And you can call this poem religious persecution, or reverse racism, reverse sexism, masochism.
You can call it whatever you want, but this isn't white guilt as much as it's just plain
truth. Maybe not to you, but it's not always about you. Step into someone else's shoes
who's been used or abused, and renew your perspective. White. Christian. Male. I know
this doesn't make me interesting, or unique, or even friendly. It makes me the enemy. But
I don't want you to feel bad for me, 'cause you got no reason to. I'm simply here to apologize
in the likely case that someone like me never included you.