Freedom Fever

by curiel_omar

January 3, 2014

I must go to the land of the free.

To the land of chance and opportunity.

To the land of ethnic diversity.

To the land where humans are not as limited.

The flag waves.

It salutes me

and invites me to join the transplants.

But the transplants reject me.

They highlight the differences between my customs and theirs.

They choose to not understand.

They ridicule my heritage and exalt their own.

They pull down the welcoming stripes and put up an intimidating x,

claiming it to be part of their culture.

Something wrong with this poem?

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Comments (1)

curiel_omarJan 3, 2014

<p>The reference to an "intimidating x" is a reference to a Confederate flag. I chose to write about this because I live in the South, and it is not uncommon to see these flags. Some people have window stickers for their cars of Confederate flags, and as a Chicano, this has always made me uncomfortable because this just says that these people do not welcome the people who are not like them. </p>