Joseph Seamon Cotter - Is It Because I Am Black?

Why do men smile when I speak,
And call my speech
The whimperings of a babe
That cries but knows not what it wants?
Is it because I am black?

Why do men sneer when I arise
And stand in their councils,
And look them eye to eye,
And speak their tongue?
Is it because I am black?

Joseph Seamon Cotter

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/is-it-because-i-am-black/