God Bless America: Or Being Brown in a Post 9/11 World

by Alok Vaid-Menon, ’13

after 9/11 your hindu temple
– that one in small town texas where you
grew up believing in america
and god
and other things bigger than yourself –
made new t-shirts:
american flag printed on the back
“we will never forget 9/11. god bless america”

and you wore that shirt to school the next day, made sure it fit just right
like the english on your tongue,
like the bible in your hand,
like the sunscreen behind your ears
and you hoped that its crisp
(white) would distract your classmates from
the terrorist threat of your skin
– that day you woke up
and found that you were
afraid of yourself –

and at lunch your (white) classmate asks you
“why your people did this to us”