internment for your mind

Let me spin you a tale of untold discrimination
That happens daily before my eyes
But is sanctioned by the American nation in your search for
Truth and justice for all, positioning yourself as the savior of
“THE REST OF THE WORLD”
the rest of us minorities are enclosed in a box we can't get out of,
because Asian people, are smart, quiet, and docile

No
I am yellow, and I will tell you
more than enough reasons, why thinking in "yellow" is wrong,
and why everything you've ever thought about me,
about the Asians and slant eyes and Chinese, is WRONG

and I'll lay it down quick in your mind,
so follow this yellow brick road of assumptions,
about me, my ethnicity, the very idea
that having Eastern ancestry MUST mean
I got me some 4.0 GPA and parents
that make me play piano-
that I am something not capable of free thought and free will

Why is it that it’s my genes, and not my own ABILITY
to surpass your mental capacity,
it’s because I am smart, NOT because I’m A-Z-N

So don’t tell me it’s okay it’s acceptance in America
When you take my culture and commodify it for suburban malls
My people objectified through images of geishas and erotic submission
Asian women in the media as a sexual representation
of the exotic foreign industry of human trafficking
Silk bound feet breaking out this time around because this asian woman’s had enough of this

Don’t give me your bullshit about cultural integration
when you stereotype the way I speak and the way I am for marketing purposes
Please explain to me why kimonos are sold next to images of Chinese calligraphy,
why people ask me where I’m from in an attempt to get me to speak a generic “Asianese”

In your search for the static identity of a minority to represent commodified diversity
All of our cultures become one size fit all for our continent
ready made instant noodle gratification for consumer America;
for those of you too lazy to learn what it’s really like

Why you so shocked when I say I’m from America-
why am I perpetually foreign?
Please explain to me why the successful Asian actors
are the ones that are typecasted as bad English speakers and kung fu masters

Don’t tell me that the Asian stereotype’s a positive one
Last time Asian Americans were perpetually foreign,
Japanese internment happened

So don’t tell me to be civilized
With your civil lies talking about freedom,
when you remain free, but dumb-

Don’t you DARE tell me that I’ve got it good
When you drive Asian stereotypes into my mind like we're in Hong Kong
Run down by YOUR ideals of a perfect Asian American,
full of predictable diversity,
where there's a little bit of everything,
but nothing out of the ordinary,
STEREOTYPICAL MINORITIES
This is institutionalized racism.