Analysis Of I Wonder When I Ll Get To Be Called A Man

As human beings, we have a certain expectation of how we should be addressed and respected. A lack of respect can draw from different sources age, race, religion, and other factors. In history, this condescension can be seen as racism, prejudice, discrimination, exploitation, or segregation. A significant point in time was set in America during the first half of the twentieth century when segregation of whites and blacks was prominent. During this time period, blues music made an appearance and its popularity grew immensely. The songs I Wonder When I’ll Get to be Called a Man and Black, Brown and White, composed by William “Big Bill” Broonzy, illustrate the impertinence felt by African Americans from the rest of America. Ultimately the genre,

The Oxford Dictionary describes prejudice as a “dislike, hostility, or unjust behaviour deriving from preconceived and unfounded opinions.” Broonzy uses his lyrics to express the personal feelings created by prejudice. “[He] was never called a man… [He] was uneducated” as described by his white peers in his young adulthood. During this time period, African Americans were not allowed to attend white schools, so most of the black population was taught by their mothers. Due to the lack of education they received, what the mothers could pass down was very little. Examples of his lack of education reveal themselves in Broonzy’s lyrical writing – “I’d knowed I’d be called a Real McCoy” is a strong example of this. His writing technique aids the idea that the race was “uneducated” which demonstrates the prejudice laid onto the African American

This reign was so obvious that negative racial stereotypes were defined as “characterizing non-white groups that ascribe negative attributes to them – laziness, unintelligence, violence…” Blacks “avoided confrontation from whites” because whites had authority over them. White privilege was at a high point in history. Broonzy “and a man workin’ side by side” at his employment is an example of white supremacy. It was prevalent enough that Broonzy referred to the white man as ‘man’ yet it could not be reciprocated. Throughout his song Black, White and Brown, each chorus starts with “if you was white/ you’d be alright” and suggests that a white person does not suffer from any worry about discrimination because he or she knows they are above every other race in America. Broonzy, along with many other Black Blues singers, performed plenty of times yet no one listened to their messages. “Elvis Presley, they don’t listen to me when I sing it, but they listen when he plays it” Broonzy states when questioned about his blues. No matter how hard Broonzy tried, white people may have believed that they do not need to listen to him because of his colour. They believed that “everything belonged to them unless otherwise specified.” Broonzy received no respect from white people throughout his life; countless times in his lyrics, he mentions that