What are African Americans
	are they trees for the nation's
		laundry
			decked out with the
				handcuffs
					of our minds
What are womyn
	are they little breeding pools
		for the egos of 
			masculine 
				sexuality
What are homosexuals
	are they victims
		of some evil choice
			that the self righteous
				can use
					to eclipse their own sins
What are Native Americans
	little red wagons that we can 
		roll back and forth
			parking in whatever
				corner of the alley
					seems convenient
						for the moment
What are the Latin Americans
	are they simply
		annoying parasites
			who do the work we don't want
				for pay that we won't accept
					and have the gall to
						ask for benefits
What is the United States
	is it an experiment
		for the ideologically pure
			masculine gendered
				light skinned
					eurocentric
						suburb dwelling
							straight guy
That looks like a Swedish Jesus
	with short hair
		strutting around in
			wing tips
				pin-stripe suits
And a GQ magazine
	stuck in a King James Bible
		laying on the seat of his Lexus
Since when did a democracy
	for
		and by
			all it's people get stuck
In a glitz laced
	Madison Avenue Ad
		commissioned by the pretty boys
			of the up and coming
				capitalistic
					theocracy
						they propose
I say that we should
	bring back the melting pot
		the salad bowl and all the other
			metaphors for
				diversity and
Celebrate what's different
	about all of us
		rather than trying
			to make us all
Look like
	act like
		talk like and
			create like
Some cultural myth
	held up as the American Dream
We should make the 
	American Dream
		reflect who we are
			rather than make it
				reflect what some small group
					within us
Thinks that it should be

(c) 1997 James Oliver Smith, Jr