They Just Ain’t Us Poem by Stanley Cooper

About foreigners we’re prone to making a fuss
Because of the fact they just ain’t us
We seem to exult in this difference fear
And pray all who are foreign would just disappear

We blindly dislike their color of skin
They come from places we’ve never been
The way they talk we find far too alien
They’re not even Catholic or Episcopalian

Imagine a country with all look-alikes
Of teen-agers, grown-ups and all the small tykes
It might be judged, secure and for bigots alluring
But in truth it would be a nation most boring

Different people we’ve never met
Needn’t be perceived as a common threat
Pigeon-hold as negative adversity
But welcomed and added to our cultural diversity

Hopefully the time will come when differences won’t matter
When hearing assorted languages will sound less like chatter
When people will be judged individually, one on one
We’ll know then the war on bigotry will have finally been won