I never met a black man <br />until I was twenty-one. <br />They simply didn't live where <br />I was raised, deep behind <br />the 'Zion Curtain.' <br /> <br />Of course, I'd seen them, <br />on TV, and once from a <br />distance on a dirty west-side street <br />where you rolled up your car <br />windows and locked your doors. <br /> <br />'I have a dream' meant nothing to me <br />who'd never struggled under anyone's <br />yoke, who didn't grow up in poverty and want, <br />or being 'guilty' because of the color of my skin, <br />and being told, 'To the back of the bus, BOY! ' <br /> <br />Oh, I'd been 'persecuted' - poor little <br />white Mormon boy that I was. I thought we <br />were picked on - we members of the only truth, <br />'Why can't they just leave us alone! ? ' <br />I'd shout and cry, angered over being <br />told my faith was a lie. <br /> <br />Then, ironically, God sent me a black man, <br />and he showed me the truth of my life. <br />He loved me into a life of trusting Christ, <br />and seeing no skin color in my <br />brothers in the Lord. <br /> <br />Then in service to my country, <br />I found myself as a minority for the <br />first time in my life - and learned what <br />it was like to wonder why I was <br />treated differently. <br /> <br />I saw the looks, and heard the quiet <br />'honky, ' 'cracker, ' 'white boy, ' spoken <br />behind my back, and felt the chill of <br />loneliness and fear being a different <br />one among others who were not the same. <br /> <br />Through it all, I've come to find, <br />'I have a dream too! ' One where <br />ALL hold hands in color-blind love, <br />and share each others burdens <br />without anyone feeling LESS, or MORE. <br /> <br />It's true - I never spoke to a black man <br />until I was twenty one - and I discovered a <br />profound and mind-blowing epiphany <br />that he... <br /> <br />Was <br /> <br />Just <br /> <br />Like <br /> <br />Me! <br /> <br /> <br />© 2008 - Michael Hunter<br /><br />Michael Hunter<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-have-a-dream-meant-nothing-to-me/
