Ellen Craft to Whites

Dear white people,

Are you surprised, discomforted?

That I, a slave, was in your midst.

Walking as you do, talking as you do.

Sitting next to you on the train,

Getting...      quite...      close.

You could say you suspected my blackness all along, that my body reeked of black blood.

And yet, you allowed me to live amongst you, live conspicuously in your midst.

The color of my skin? Is that all fooled you?

Then you'd better rethink what you consider white.

Very sincerely,

Ellen Craft