Not Photometry

[RiverNotch]

I read this as a wry comment. Closer, perhaps, to Leanne's "strong privilege overtones", only the privilege, I think, is something the speaker recognizes. 

Whiteness is a way of being
you, too, can assume "assume" is one of the piece's litmus tests, I think, especially as it can mean so much. There's assume as in to take, as in the Assumption of the Theotokos; then there's assume as in to suppose, as in assuming someone's virtue is already lost; then there's assume as in to wear, such as assuming a black satin gown; and then there's assume as in to feign, as in assuming blackness by listening to A Tribe Calls Quest. None of those usages are particularly deprecated, although my read of this as something rather caustic is influenced by how the potentially bad readings outnumber the good. 

Well, that, and fuck "whiteness" --- biologically speaking, it's a rather meaningless category, there's more genetic diversity from within the continent of Africa than there is between the anthropologically (or, from a historical lens, colonially) established races; ethically speaking, I'm pretty sure white people have done more bad overall than all the other races, especially when you see how a lot of the problems developing (ie, majority non-white) nations have are rooted in colonialism; and aesthetically speaking, Talking Heads' "Remain in Light", [b]Paul Simon's "Graceland", every white rapper ever, every white jazz musician ever, etc, just to name a few black examples.[/b]

(regardless of your plumbing, To take that caustic reading another level, I take "plumbing" as something scatological, but then I'm sure I'm missing something --- something I already know, I further bet, but have just worked myself into currently forgetting.
pigment, socioeconomic
or genetic background) But then there's all of this. "pigment, socioeconomic, / or genetic background" --- Oxford comma added and suggested --- anyways, "genetic", as I've already pointed out, of course, but "pigment, socioeconomic," is too obvious a dig to ignore. I think Jay-Z says it best, in the following song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM7lw0Ovzq0

And again, that's just the black example. But I can't help it --- I might be 100% brown-skinned Filipino, but I'm also black at heart. Which of course means I'm white at heart.

if you’re good enough. And this is the final nail in the coffin. The coffin, for me, being the poem looking at all this with a very critical eye. There are only two folks who say "good enough": capitulators and assholes.

I can't quite call this a "lovely work" --- fact is, the piece might not be saying all that, it's too elusive --- but neither is that elusiveness particularly bad. At best, it's uneasy --- at worst, it's dangerous, and in this political climate (everywhere, not just where white vs nonwhite seemingly matters most), it's more likely to be at its worst. Really, the piece is a year or two too late, and I don't think this is an issue where moderation can mean ambiguity.