Born a Crime

words. That’s where the
government came up with things
like the pencil test. If you were
applying to be white, the pencil
went into your hair. If it fell out,
you were white. If it stayed in, you
were colored. You were what the
government said you were.
Sometimes that came down to a
lone clerk eyeballing your face and
making a snap decision. Depending
on how high your cheekbones were
or how broad your nose was, he
could tick whatever box made sense
to him, thereby deciding where you
could live, whom you could marry,
what jobs and rights and privileges