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I wasn’t yet ten, just disappointed
That I couldn’t go to the museum
As promised, ‘cause (and this
Is how I understood the situation)

A bunch of people were stealing
Stuff from the stores. Just breaking
The windows and taking stuff.
All because some man got hurt
By the cops, and now he claimed
That it was ‘cause he was not the
Same color as the police.

“Why can’t we all just get along?”
He asked, and I knew (I was nearly
Ten, after all) that this was a stupid
Idea. I didn’t want to get along with
Most of the boys in my class, not at all.

Though my parents looked as tense as
That day when my dad left Indiana to pave
The way to California, I just couldn’t
Understand it. After all, it was just
Some people stealing stuff. And L.A.
Was so far away from Torrance.

I peeped over the side of the couch,
Trying to figure out why the news was
At all interesting. There was a man
In a truck. And a bunch of people
Pulled him out of the truck, and they
Beat him. He was white, but the others
Weren’t. And this, at the end, was the
Puzzlement. Were we mad at the white
People or the black people? ‘Cause
I didn’t see the problem with either kind.
Just the people who hurt people.


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Things are beautiful if you love them.
- Jean Anouilh