Oh, beautiful for racist skies, for amber waves of pain. For purple mountain travesties, above the muted chains! America! America! God dimmed his grace on thee. And crowned thy brute with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

Long before I was even thought of, my immigrant parents wholeheartedly invested into the "American Dream." They were sold on the deception that America is "the land of equal opportunity, the land of the free." My parents took on degrading jobs, worked tirelessly, linguistically assimilated and attempted to practice the "American Way" just so I, their American child, can have a quality of life that was better than theirs.

Throughout each developmental stage, my parents stressed the importance of education and hard work.

Mama always said, "Do good in school, work hard and there's nothing you can't have in America."

Right?

Well, 28 years later, I've come to accept not only is the "American Dream" deferred, it's a delusion perpetually deterred—an "American Nightmare" in which people of color aren't able to wake up from.

On November 9, 2016, I woke up to a reality I still refuse to accept. Of all the years of being aware of racial inequality, I truly believed, if anything, The United States of America would always uphold a bare minimum criteria for who leads the country. I thought, "Wait a minute, even McDonald's, retail or the customer service industry at least requires some sort of experience and/or good reference to acquire a job." Regretfully for me, but boastfully for some, racism trumped, and here we all are nine months later watching America go back in time.

For years, white America believed its own lie that racism is dead. According to white America, people of color should've been satisfied with the passing of The Civil Rights Act and Brown vs Board of Education. For too long, white America handed affirmative action and government assistance to black and brown communities on a silver platter, daring us to complain. White America confidently believed, "You got what you wanted. The entire country was weighted on the same scale so you should have had nothing else to protest and march about." I truly continue to wonder what strain of hallucinogen privileged white men and women were inducing, because those presumptions were far from the truth. Evidently, racism is still very much alive. More now than ever, closeted racists and white supremacists alike feel empowered to be loud and barbaric about their beliefs.

I was born in America, therefore, I am an American citizen. We're a democratic society—well, that's what the American books told me growing up. So with all of the red, white and blue in which I am entitled, I boldly state that I am utterly disgusted, but yet not surprised at the worsening condition of this country. If the White Nationalist March that took place in Virginia wasn't a look in the mirror on the dark state of this country, I volunteer myself as a tribute to be shipped back to my family's country. Haiti or Africa, it doesn't matter. Get me outta here ASAP!

White America, marginalized groups told you for decades that the roots of your tree is still grounded in hate. Most recently, it has tickled me to see newsreels and social media commentary rallying against simultaneously being an American and Nazi supporter. College and non-college degreed white men and women, this is the outcome of your November 2016 electoral vote, marinate in that world shattering decision. While white America continues to have a frenzy with the heightened white supremacy behavior being portrayed, you can find me on standby being an unbothered black woman exercising my right to mind my business. To have our voices heard about inequality in America, people of color have protested, we have marched and have been killed; we remained ignored. Warnings were given, white America, this is now your mess, fix it without the expense of another black and brown body.

Lyne P. Erie

Writing since August 2017 · 1 story contributed