Anti/non/racist

I'm learning that I am a racist
having grown up here, in America where
whiteness is the ocean we swim in, the air
we breathe, we cannot avoid it
I am a racist
it pains me in spite of reassurances
that it's not my fault that I see the world this way
having been taught that black people are somehow
less than whites, more violent, predators, poor
because they somehow deserve it.
These are the lessons in America,
I learned them, unwittingly, unwillingly
and now, it's time to unlearn, to shed the
shackles of misinformation, to do something
to make a difference, to respect, to help
for god's sake, to help
we have done so much
to hurt.