I know racism for myself
It don’t hide in the bushes or slither across the ground
It’s loud and belligerent and haughty

I know racism for myself
I didn’t have to read about it in a book
visit Civil Rights museums
or Google it,
But I did all of those things anyway

I know racism for myself
It’s not blunt
but rather piercing
and with lots of malice

racism throws change on the counter when you've held your hand out to receive its tender
it refuses to say "Hello" when you speak to it
and it also missed work and school the following day after Barack Obama was elected as the president of the United States of America

I know racism for myself
I loved its offspring
worked for it
supported it unknowingly
but when it made me see red
I then knew all too better