ZOE CHINDA, 17

Dear Racism,

I'm glad you’re scared. I'm glad that you’ve had a bad year. We all have. People are dead because of you, but the name GEORGE FLOYD will forever be on our minds since you took him away from us. I’m writing to you as a black woman in society, but all you see is a Negro wasting your time. I’m extremely tired and so are millions of black people – exhausted of you afecting their lives with your hate like the pathogen you are. Just to be clear, I don’t hate you. I don’t spend my days fearing you, like you do us. I shall not stoop to your level, but I will tell you that I give you all my pity. Te 1950s are gone. Slavery is behind us and the 21st century is here, and we don’t want you. We will not tolerate your vile actions of hatred any longer! Mark my words, we will stand strong and wipe you of the face of this earth so you can never hurt anyone again. I will not be a victim of your brutality. I will rise above your wicked ways of corruption. Eight minutes and forty-six seconds. Tat’s how long you were on a black man’s neck. And I just have to ask. Why? Why… WHY? How could you do that to a human being, just because of the colour of their skin? Why do we have to march during a pandemic to

remind everyone that our lives matter? What is so wrong with being BLACK? We are not lesser, we are not insignifcant, and we certainly will not be shot down because you infect people with your cruelty and stereotypes. Wearing a hoodie as a black boy should not mean a death sentence. Being a black man on a football pitch should not lead to death threats and monkey sounds from the crowd. Being black should not be so painful. We are not a diferent species altogether nor are we unevolved apes. WE ARE PEOPLE! When people ask “No, where are you really from?” it screams ignorance which you inficted on them. You crawled your way into the person’s heart and clouded their judgment, making it rotten. We are human beings that deserve respect and dignity – something that seems to be lacking in society, thanks to you. I will never understand why you hate us – hate is such a sad thing to have, so I feel for you. BLACK LIVES MATTER and you know it. You’ve always known that we matter, and that’s why you hate us. You hate the fact that we are capable of being successful, strong, proud, and smart. For too long you have been this dark cloud over our lives. We learned to live with you around, but now we are reaching past your cloud into the light, where freedom lives, and we are almost there. Te higher you build your

barriers the faster we will run to true freedom. We will not let you win this war, and I know you’re scared. You will always be on the losing side and no matter what you throw at us, we will do our best to stay strong and not give you the satisfaction of defeat. A coward like you has no right to be here, so maybe you should “go back to wherever you came from”.

We've been fghting you for hundreds of years – but this time you’re the one looking over your shoulder.

Sincerely Zoe Chinda