Is it true?

"Is it true Auntie Lynn, that racism is
increasing in America?"

A simple question from my
'Ugandan daughter' Josephine.

How do I answer?
Living in a small town in Washington,
without television in my home,
I find myself isolated from so much.
How do I even know?

I try to pay attention.
I try to live my life in a manner
that encourages and supports others,
to be aware of the opportunities I have had
that are so easy to take for granted
and are not shared by everyone.

But I know, even though it is painful to say,
what I am doing is not enough.
Not if there are people
who are not safe to live their lives
in the country I call home.

...

Walking down the red dirt roads
in Uganda, I have experienced
being different, standing out because
of the color of my skin.
Children pointing and yelling "Mzungu"
but in an excited and curious way.
Friendly, not hateful.

I have climbed onto a boda,
a small motorcycle for transport,
and have wondered what the driver
thought of me, because of what I look like
and where I am from.
(Mostly, he probably thought
I could pay more for this ride.
And he would be right.)

I have experienced being a minority
for a couple weeks at a time
but I have never experienced racism.

I have experienced people
making assumptions about me
because I am American, and we are all rich,
but then I go home
to my middle-class life
where my culture tries to convince me
that what I have is never enough.

That is when my privilege
becomes something I want to hide,
making me want to take a scrub brush to my skin,
scouring off the white.

But wait - this is who I am.
And perhaps I can do a better job
choosing how I wear the color of my skin.

"Is it true Auntie Lynn, that racism is
increasing in America?"

Oh Josephine, the truth is that
it has always been here,
if we were honest enough to look.

Now, perhaps,
it is getting the attention it deserves.