It really should be throwback Friday, but couldn’t wait that long before posting this.  I must also point out that I’ve exceeded my own expectations, two posts in one week. Hmm. 🙂

Okay enough silliness. I was digging through my overcrowded storeroom and found a poem a wrote many moons ago which was subsequently published in the first issue of my university’s creative writing magazine. What struck me, is the fact that although a decade has gone by since I wrote it, things haven’t really changed that much.  It’s called Not Black and White.  Let me know what you think.

 

NOT BLACK AND WHITE

by Sade Adeniran

The poison of racist politics exploited a highly unusual configuration of ethnic geographic and political factors to gain a tiny grip on the reins of community power…

I feel the curdling of my guts
Fear stalks me.

… however the threat must be seen in perspective.  The ward which the BNP captured by seven votes is a sequestered ghetto of urban despair and was aided by the peculiarly low calibre of local politics…

I see the fox in the guise of a lamb
Fear silences me.

… Their votes are too few to mount a national campaign to compare with the racist movements in France and Germany.  The Home Secretary, Archbishop of Canterbury and the Metropolitan Commissioner were right, therefore to dismiss this vote as squalid and exceptional…

Blackness is their enemy and my banner
Fear Immobilises me.

… Conservatives are providing the breeding ground for racism.  It is very important we stop adding to the pressures in our society and have a much stronger policy in dealing with illegal immigration.  There is a perception in white people that the Bangladeshi’s are talking away their jobs and homes…

Beads of perspiration stand to attention
Where can I hide?

… the strongest influence in government policy in the field of race relations has been the fear of white racism and its main instrument, immigration control.  His politics centre on his belief that immigrants are the root of all evil.  Perceptions are important.  Any little piece of imbecility can be believed if repeated often enough…

Creep, creep creep, closer they come
My mouth opens in a silent scream.

Here we are in 2014 and what has changed?