WHAT IS ETHNIC PRIDE? A poem

Judith Lundin's poem successfully conveys both the elusive nature of defining ethnic pride and the certainty that it exists. The poem is successful in its combin ation of several vi tal entities: acknow ledging one's ancestry, and using it as a foundat ion for building a reputation; feeling deprived of one's ethnici ty and the right to c laim 1 t; ethnic! ty as more than a skin color, rather as a spiritual quality one is born with; and new found pride to hea l old wounds and become emotiona lly strong in one's ethnic identity. The final figure of speech used to define ethnic pride is quite appropriat e: "A convalescent with real humility /taking s teps like a college t rack star. . . . "