Title: 10 Poems about Racism and Discrimination | Human Rights Careers
Headings: 10 Poems about Racism and Discrimination
10 Poems about Racism and Discrimination
“Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
“Rosa” by Rita Dove
“Tradition” by Jericho Brown
“White Privilege” by Gabriel Rameriz
“I Am Not The Indian You Had In Mind” by Thomas King
“Immigrant Blues” by Li-Young Lee
“Riot” by Gwendolyn Brooks
“Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall
“Afterimages” by Audre Lorde
“I, Too” by Langston Hughes

Content: Rameriz, who is Afro-Latinx, describes the poem as a response to things white people have said to him. At the time, he didn’t confront them directly. He says the purpose of the poem is to make white people consider their place in the world. Discomfort is a signal that there are things that need to change. His book
“I Am Not The Indian You Had In Mind” by Thomas King
An artist with an impressive resume, Thomas King is a photographer, professor emeritus, radio broadcaster, and 2-time Governor General’s Literary Award nominee. In this poem, King contrasts the stereotypes of indigenous people seen in culture and how they actually live in modern Canada. Vivid, conversational, and threaded with anger, it’s a powerful indictment of racist stereotypes. “Immigrant Blues” by Li-Young Lee
In this poem, Asian-American poet Li-Young Lee explores the different stories within the immigrant experience. These stories have titles like “Survival Strategies and the Melancholy of Racial Assimilation” and “Patterns of Love in Peoples of Diaspora.” These different titles represent the complexity of immigration and how immigrants wrestle with many identities.