A Teachable Moment

Yes,
I considered it an insult
when you called me “White;”

not so much because
you knew my father and
my mother and knew otherwise,

not so much because
it was not the first time 
we had spoken of this,

not even because
of those times
when I see myself

and say to myself
“ah, there I go
being more White than not…”

and in those moments I see
my incomplete nature, recognize
that I am what

the genocide desired 
most of all, see myself
as the hated objective —

no. No,
I considered it an insult
because you so clearly

meant it
as
a compliment.