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Obvious Flaws Too Many Wore Like Badges

Examine me!
Go ahead.
I've been 'examined' all my life.
Examined as a child,
In elementary school.

'They are sweet...
And such adorable poor 'project children'

And ridiculed with my sister.
Like we were freaks.
And compared and dehumanized.
In front of white children...
Who were taught to despise us,
Before they took flight to the suburbs.
And did all they could...
To deny both the intelligence,
And rights of Negros where I lived!

Examine me!
You go right ahead.
But I defy you to say...
My deeds are mediocre!

In fact...
Incompetence is something I had long recognized.
As I was being examined.
But I was never thought to be of 'that' kind of mind,
To correct obvious flaws too many wore like badges...
And paraded in the finest of pretentious snob-like fashion.
As I was being examined.

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
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