Back in 2006, I wrote this poem. I dusted it off last recently for an engagement at Chandler Gilbert Community College in AZ, where I was doing a 40 minute spoken word set and I wanted to look at issues of race. Afterwards, attendees asked where they could find the various pieces I performed. All but this one had been published.

It uses the metaphor of the city of Las Vegas for whiteness. Back in 2006, I was not yet a climate activist. But even at the time, I understood that a key part of whiteness was its environmental impact and lack of sustainability. Today, the relationship between extractive racist capitalism and environmental degradation and the climate crisis is clearer than ever.

WHITENESS

1.

 

If whiteness were a city, it would be

Las Vegas, baby.

Uniquely American

Built in the middle of indigenous land

And require lots of expensive energy to keep it going

 

And there would be gorgeous showgirls

Gorgeous white showgirls

And they’d dance on stage every night

With huge headdresses and high spike heels

And they’d smile and dance, dance and smile

And you’d think it might be a little uncomfortable with those huge headdresses, and tiny spike heels on stage, dancing night after night after night

But hey honey, you’re white and young and beautiful, and everyone’s looking

so smile!

Shut up about your feet and keep dancing

 

You know, we don’t like for anyone to bring us down

This is an Up kind of place

A place for winners

Which is why immigrants come in with hope shining in their eyes

with just a few coins jingling in their pockets

& a dream of streets lined with gold

 

Check-in desk is right here, people

My, my, my; so many to check in.  And you’re from the same family.  All of you?  Goodness.  One hotel room?  Oh no, here in America, everyone gets their own room.

It’s called privacy.  There are plenty of rooms for everyone!  You and your wife can be alone with your kids, while your sister can be alone with her kids, and

Grandma gets her own room, and if she has trouble walking, we can send up an attendant, and we have day care for the kiddies while you guys are in the casino.  Isn’t this great!!

 

And as an additional courtesy, of course we have a luggage check when you first come in

Oh my stars, let us take that off your hands

Honey, let me give you a little tip, okay?  You won’t be needing all that stuff.  We don’t eat that here, don’t speak that, you just won’t really fit in.

And I must say, you’ve really really overpacked

Look at all those extra syllables in your last name.  We can just dispose of those, right?

We travel light here.

Gold.  How’s that for a last name, Gold?  Shiny huh?

 

You know the new arrivals, because they always go right for the rows and rows of slot machines

And they work those slot machines

Just look at em go

Rows and rows of immigrants working at machines

Night and day

Day and night

Working hard, I see

Want a drink?

It’s free!

Rows and rows of immigrants working at machines

Night and day

Day and night

There are no windows in here

No clocks

Time has no value

Their time has no value

Who cares what time it is?

Don’t look at your watch

Look at the showgirls

Look how much you can win

Rows and rows of immigrants working at machines

Night and day

Day and night

No exit signs

Nobody wants to leave

This is the place to be

Nobody leaves until they win big or run out of coins [laughs]

 

I mean for the most part nobody leaves

But in every boatload or planeload, there are a few

Who don’t like it here

I know

What’s not to like??

We don’t talk about it a lot

But since the beginning

There have always been that percentage, that proportion

Who prefer their old world

So I say, hey, this is a free country

You’re always free to leave

So you can take your little suitcase, and your little coins

And go on back to your little village, your little pueblo,

Your little

shtetl

I just don’t understand it

We have everything here

But I tell myself

hey

Not everyone’s ready to be a winner

 

And look at this place

This is where the winners are

Mr. & Mrs. McCray of New Hampshire, formerly of Dublin

Congratulations!  The Irish have just become white [applauds]

 

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Minetti!  The Italians have just become white!

 

Mr. & Mrs. Martinez of Miami, formerly of Havana Cuba,

Congratulations!  A select group of Cubans have become white!

 

And all the rest of you Hispanics, keep trying!

All you Asians, too

Times are changing, we need you people

 

The Blacks?  Well, come on, you have to draw the line somewhere

As a group I mean,

But we’ve always welcomed individuals of African ancestry

Hey our motto is:  if you’re light enough to pass you’re light enough to play

And anyone who plays can win

Nowadays, you don’t even have to be able to pass to play

Look at some of the distinguished individuals at our Roulette Table like Clarence Thomas, at Colin Powell, Condoleeza

To find more about our affirmative action program for outstanding individuals

You can contact The Republican Party

 

And we have another winner!!

 

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kotinopoulos!  The Greeks have just become white!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Harutunian!  The Armenians have just become white!

Dr. & Mrs. Morris of New York formerly Moskowitz

Of Odessa, Russia formerly from Sevilla, Spain previously from Egypt originally from Israel

Congratulations!  The Jews have finally become white

 

I love it here

This is whiteness baby!

Are we having fun yet?

 

 

2.

 

But whiteness isn’t a city

Whiteness is a made up place

And anything people make

People can also un-make

I see the casino going broke

and selling off the slot machines to museums of unnatural history

I hear the sounds of people stepping out into daylight

Onto desert sands instead of concrete

searching for the contents of that little suitcase they checked on the way in

I see showgirls shedding feathers like bright molting birds

Shedding high heels to feel the earth beneath their feet

I see families pulling grandmothers out of nursing homes

And sisters moving in together to raise their kids

I see old world, old school values being re-considered

I see syllables sneaking back into last names and lost languages being re-claimed

I see the re-unification of the passing and non-passing branches

of certain southern family trees

I see Black people no longer being used for contrast

I see the end of whiteness as we know it

Like a dot on the horizon

Bright, and colorful and alive

If we start the journey now

We may make it in time for our children or our children’s children to arrive

 

© 2006 by Aya de Leon