Day 5

Day 5 Blog
Race and Equality
Racism and equality were a big issue hundreds of years ago, and it is still even a major problem in our society. Today, we look at poems and a short story of those dealing with these issues, how they are dealing with the problem, and if they will take any action to change.
One of the main differences that I noticed between all of the authors is that each one creates a person in their poems that feels differently about their race and equality. In McKay’s poems, “If We Must Die” and “America”, it is almost as if the narrator has accepted where he is at in society and believes that there is nothing more to do. He is giving up by saying “if we must die.” In “America”, he is just taking whatever racist thing is thrown at him and accepting it. He is not willing to do anything about it; it is only “giving me strength” because all the narrator will do is “darkly gaze into the days ahead.” In “How it Feels to be Colored Me”, the girl, Zora from Eatonville, Florida, is happy with her race, she sees nothing wrong how she looks. She has a positive image of herself and is not afraid to talk or wave at whites. She “usually spoke to them in passing” and “wave at them.” It was not until she was sent away to school in Jacksonville, Florida that she “was now the little colored girl,” but she is proud to be who she is. In both of Hughes poems, “Mother to Son” and “Theme for English B”, the narrators are not happy with where they are in society. They are willing to fight and be motivated to change things. With the last author, Cullen, in “Incident”, the boy speaks of a memory when he was “once riding in Baltimore” at the age of eight and he “smiled” at a white man. The white man responded and “poked out His tongue, and called me ‘Nigger’.” That is the only thing that the boy remembers from his visit in Baltimore that lasted from “May until December.” The boy being of such a young age shows his innocence, and could explain why he did not know better to not smile at this man during this time. However, this is the only thing that the boy remembers, and it can be assumed that the boy took no action from how he was treated. Granted, he might not have been able to do much because he was so young. The issue is that he just let’s this one event, that was about ten seconds long, eat away at him, which is why I conclude that he still has taken no action. If this one event is bugging him, there obviously is a bigger issue at hand; he obviously does not have the courage to stand up for his race and being treated equally. In “Yet Do I Marvel”, the narrator references God and “I doubt not that God is good”, but he questions what role God plays in why the world is the way it is. Our world is full of problems, and he talks about them throughout his poem such as being “blind” and that people “must some day die.” I do not understand the ending to this poem. When he says “To make a poet black, and big him sing!”, is he showing that he is proud to be African American? If this is the case, I feel that is sort of abrupt and totally changing the meaning of the poem.
When deciding on a similarity between each of the authors today, I found this quite difficult. When you look at each individual author and poem, all are so different; however, I have settled on the similarity that each write with a sense of hopefulness. Even though each author has different feelings towards their race and quality, each is hopeful for the future and what it holds. For example, McKay says “if we must die”, and there is a sense of hopefulness that they will not die. Also, in “America” there is a sense of hopefulness that the man’s teacher will understand him and “learn from me”, and in “Mother to Son” the mother hopes that her son will continue to carry on her strength and fight for equality.

The author that I see most closely aligning with the authors that we studied yesterday is Langston Hughes. Yesterday’s message was on freedom, and to never be satisfied with what you have. In sending this message, the authors yesterday used powerful words to ignite the people. In both of Hughes poems, “Mother to Son” and “Theme for English B”, the message that I interpreted was to not accept where your race is at in society. The moment that one is satisfied is the moment of failure. Everyone deserves to be treated equally, and at this point in history, we are not. Both stir up powerful emotions that try to trigger action into fighting for equality of the races. In “Mother to Son”, the mother explains to her son that “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” showing how she has struggled for equality and is still continuing to fight. She encourages her son “don’t turn your back” to give him the strength to fight for his equality in the hard times. It is an issue during their time, and the mother wants to send the important message of how it is necessary to stand your ground on freedom. In “Theme for English B”, a colored boy of “twenty-two, born in Winston-Salem” is at school where he is instructed to “go home and write.” The man, obviously frustrated with his class that he is taking, talks about how he “like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love” making him seem like any other person. He has had enough of being beat up and torn down because of his race. He just wants people to see that he is a person too, just like everyone else including whites because “being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races.” He is worried that his page “will be colored that I write”, which to me is absurd because a piece of writing has nothing to do with race. It just comes to show you how prejudice and hateful people were back then that they judged a person’s writing because of their race. He goes on to use powerful words and challenge the instructor by saying “sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you.” He finishes his poem with “ I guess you learn from me-although you’re older-and white-and somewhat more free.” In the end, I do not understand how the “teacher” will “learn from me”. What does this mean? Is the student saying that the teacher will learn from the student’s writing of what it is like to be an African American in this time?
These poems today remind me of the movie “The Green Mile.” This is one of my favorite movies! But, this movie demonstrates how an African American prisoner is not granted a fair trial and is wrongly accused, convicted, and murdered. Even though the white prison guards know that the man is innocent, they do not do anything about it. Overall, this movie demonstrates the inequality present because of race which is demonstrated in today’s readings.