The chains are not broken

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According to some people
Apparently I sound too white to be a black girl
As if tone of voice directly relates to race
As if how I articulate and reiterate can directly relate to my heritage
As if someone can"sound white"
Because apparently sounding educated and being intelligent is a white trait
I'm good at science and math
And apparently that's something I can't like
I talk in complete sentences and to you it's wrong
And to me, that's something that's not right
See I grew up with a mother and father that are proud
Proud of their education proud of their family
Proud of their roots that flow deep in my veins
And they'd be damned if I walked around sounding like an uneducated fool
So I'm not sorry to you
I'm not sorry to anyone
I'm not going to apologize
Because I think it's sick how I'm expected to be a failure
How I'm expected to speak in a dialect of Ebonics
And how I'm expected to be disrespectful, over sexual, a drop out, uneducated and all the other false generalizations
Because Stereotypes are an underhanded form of racism
And perpetuating them is a minor form of masochism
So I say fuck your standards
Because I refuse to be a statistic
I refuse to continue to disrespect the rights my ancestors fought for
Bled for
died for
And the self hate of my own kind needs to end
When did it change from stealing books
and hiding from the oppressors
in order to learn how to read
To not wanting to be intellectual and hiding from the truth
Because it's more excepted to be a fool
because apparently that reading shit just ain't cool
It isn't selling out it's called trying to better yourself
And if you think going to college is betraying your race you need to reevaluate your state of mind
I'm sick of it!
Sick of being admired for
"Speaking so well"
That isn't a compliment
That's a subtle form of racism that you are oblivious to
And your ignorance is offensive
I'm tired of being mocked and made fun of for my intelligence by people who are suppose to be my own brothers and sisters
People who descended from the mother land with my ancestors
People who share the same past
The same struggle
Because the physical chains of slavery might be broken
But we are still bounded
We are slaves to the statistics, the system, society, stereotypes
Still slaves to the oppression
I refuse to conform to what is expected of me
I decide to uphold my pride
I decide to dare to be educated and do my ancestors justice
So I'm not sorry that being educated makes you feel confused and uncomfortable or like I'm trying to be something I'm not
Because I want to rise from the oppression
And bring up the fallen with me
I want to be that example that my younger brothers and sisters can follow
And break free from the chains
So excuse me for not being your expectation
But Im going to continue to be who I am and better my own self
I suggest you do the same

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