I Don't Mind
©1968 by Carolyn Jackson
Age 11
United States

From the Book:
Miracles, Poems by children of the English-speaking world
Collected by Richard Lewis
Simon and Schuster, 1966

I Carolyn Jackson am a pure-blooded Negro in soul and mind.

My mother's from North Carolina and my father's from Florida.

I know when I go to that old wooden bed,

Somewhere on the other side of town, there is a child being

put to bed in a soft cuddly nest.

But being a Negro isn't so bad (if you know what's going on)

Down South my cousin is being beat up --

And Look There... My aunt got put in jail for drinking from

a white fountain.

But here I feel better because I have more freedom.

When I ride the train and sit next to a person of the

opposite race

I feel like a crow in a robin's nest

And I feel dirty.

I'm not prejudiced or anything...

If we go on a trip and they call me names,

I Don't Mind.

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