Exceptionalism

The viral video shows a white woman speaking up
for two hispanic women being harassed by another
white woman at a grocery store for chatting

in Spanish in the cereal aisle. No you don’t,
she says forcefully, marching after her
and taking out her phone to call the police.

The other woman sputters something about respect,
which she demands but ironically can’t give to other
humans just because they don’t look or sound

like her. And It’s my country, as if this whole
continent had a picket fence winding around it,
a gated driveway, a two-car garage: one book

for family and friends and another for the help—
one really meaning separate, apart, not unified.

 

In response to an entry from the Morning Porch.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.