‘How to Explain White Supremacy to a White Supremacist,’ is a poem that addresses multiple issues within racism that we do not often care to look at. It is written by a powerful public speaker and activist commonly know as Guante. It dives under the surface of what you see on the news and really hits home with its moving stanzas full of intelligent metaphors.
I believe this poem to be all about the bystanders, who sit and watch people make derogatory comments and remarks yet fail to tell them it is wrong. This message really made me passionate about using my voice and encouraging others to do the same. Guante shows this when he says, “because of course, this isn’t really a poem for white supremacists. I don’t know any white supremacists.
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This made me think about the fact that as well as the larger racist acts, our world also suffers from casual and constant discrimination towards those of another race. Racial slurs and stereotypes are constantly floating throughout the media in forms of song, scripts and online posts, as well as face to face confrontation. It pains me to think that people can have these crazy preconceived ideas of another human based on the colour of our skin and although it is on a smaller scale, it still happens in New Zealand. It also leads me to think of a speech written by a teenage Samoan boy named, Joshua Iosefo. This speech is called, “Brown Brother” and it argues out against the stereotypes hovering over the people of Islander ethnicity. Similarly to Guantes words he speaks of difficulty within schools and workplaces as they are viewed as less intelligent and inferior. Guantes words pushed me to think about this and the community around me. He made me wonder what I can do and say to improve our small community and its ongoing and unrecognized stereotypes. Guante poem, although