The history of African-American oppression began in the early 1600s as slaves arrived on America’s shores. For hundreds of years, African-Americans struggled against crippling segregation, terrorism, and racial enmity to no avail. As a result of extensive physical and psychological beatings, African-Americans became fearful and very reserved in expressing their emotions. Their suffering, however, fuelled a sense of courage in some, such as African-American poets, who found the strength to address uncertainties that others had against their racial identity. These brave men included George Horton, who wrote “Liberty and Slavery”, and Paul Dunbar, author of “We Wear a Mask”. Through their powerful race-protest poetry, Horton and Dunbar portray that African-Americans feel incessantly trapped, both physically and emotionally, resulting in a deep-rooted yearning for freedom.
George Horton, an African-American slave for 66 years, wrote “Liberty and Slavery” in 1829. In this poem, Horton illustrates his vision of breaking free from the “slavish chain” (Horton, 2) of oppression, primarily through literary techniques of juxtaposition and personification.
Horton introduces the title with two dissimilar words – liberty and slavery. By starkly contrasting the two and placing repression second to freedom, Horton establishes his confidence that liberty will dominate in the end. The poem begins with three stanzas concerning the depressive state in which Horton is tortured and “deprived of liberty” (8). His diction, carefully chosen words like “silent grave” (10), depict the confinement of slaves, who are silently suffering and fading away on what is compared to their deathbed. However, in the third stanza, Horton drastically changes to a hopef...
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...xtensive personification of freedom gives much depth to liberty and makes it a relatable subject. Dunbar is more discreet in implying that African-Americans should not let the mask hinder them from expressing their true desire of liberty from racism. Ultimately, both of these poems are very effective in drawing upon a new understanding in the consciences of his white American audience – that life would be very barren without freedom.
Works Cited
Reuben, Paul P. Chapter 6: Paul Laurence Dunbar." PAL: Perspectives in American
Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. 2011 (14 Nov. 2013)
Sherman, Joan R. African-American Poetry. Dover Publications, Inc., 1997. Print. 2,
64.
U.S. Survey Course, “Trouble So Hard”: Singing of Slavery and Freedom.
(14 Nov. 2013)
The compelling accounts of Boston King and David George certainly allow the reader to attain a higher degree of respect and sorrow for the slaves of the south during the time of the American Revolution. There is no question that these two slaves, in addition to countless others, suffered much more than any man should ever have to. The daily fear that amounted to chaos in their minds day in and day out are enough to send shivers down ones spine. The risks these men took for their family to acquire freedom certainly should not go unnoticed. One can read and immediately see many distinct similarities in these two accounts of dangerous decisions made by these men to overcome their slavery, but these similarities are, as mentioned, easily spotted.
During the era of slavery in America, it was common to see slaves being content with their given social ascription of identity. Many had accepted their fate of forever being bound. Madison Washington, the main character in Frederick Douglass’ novel, The Heroic Slave; however, couldn’t come to terms with being denied the inalienable right of being free. This book focuses on Washington and his journey in pursuit of liberty. He does whatever he can to be free from the bonds of slavery, and is fueled by the knowledge that slavery cannot be right or justified.
In this story it clearly shows us what the courts really mean by freedom, equality, liberty, property and equal protection of the laws. The story traces the legal challenges that affected African Americans freedom. To justify slavery as the “the way things were” still begs to define what lied beneath slave owner’s abilities to look past the wounded eyes and beating hearts of the African Americans that were so brutally possessed.
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
After reading Frederick Douglass’s narrative of slavery, I couldn’t help but stop and try to gather my thoughts in any way possible. It was not the first time I had read the narrative, but this time around Douglass’s words hit me much harder. Perhaps, it was that I read the narrative in a more critical lens, or possibly it was just that I am older and more mature now from the last time I read it, but whatever the reason, I can confidently say reading the narrative has changed my heart and opened my eyes in many ways. I have always been aware of the injustices that slavery encompassed and of course like many other people, I have been taught about slavery in a historical narrative my entire life. But, Frederick Douglass’s narrative does more than just provide a historical perspective in seeing the injustices in slavery. His narrative asks the reader to look directly into the eyes of actual slaves and realize their very heart beat and existence as humans. Douglass humanizes the people of whom the terrible acts we acted upon that we learn about as early as elementary school. It is because of this that I decided to write this poem. Reading the narrative made me really think about Douglass’s journey and the story he tells on his road to freedom. I felt as if he was really speaking to me and, and in turn I wanted to give Douglass a voice in my own writing.
The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.
The poem also focuses on what life was like in the sixties. It tells of black freedom marches in the South how they effected one family. It told of how our peace officers reacted to marches with clubs, hoses, guns, and jail. They were fierce and wild and a black child would be no match for them. The mother refused to let her child march in the wild streets of Birmingham and sent her to the safest place that no harm would become of her daughter.
“There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.” Hughes quickly puts himself as the one being oppressed. His reader quickly discover that he is portraying himse...
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
...eding hearts” and “mouth . . . . myriad subtleties” (4-5).Today, everyone is entitled to having equal opportunities in the US. Back in Dunbar’s time, on the other hand, slavery prohibited blacks from being an ordinary person in society. Although they prayed heavily and persevered, they wore the mask for the time-being, in the hopes of living in a world where the color of one’s skin would not determine his or her character.
Liberation is defined as more than just a physical movement towards freedom or as a concrete escape from a difficult situation. Liberation is equality, a release from real and figurative imprisonment, and a strong mental and spiritual change in mindset (Merriam-Webster 1). Characters like Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye and Dinah in The Red Tent experience tremendous liberation from their devastating situations when they manage to find true happiness. Portrayed as a battered and abused girl in Toni Morrison’s novel, Pecola Breedlove lives a life of confusion, racism, resentment, and hostility. It is only when Pecola convinces herself that she has blue eyes that she is able to liberate herself and feel true happy. Pecola lives a disheartening life but with patience and perseverance, she frees herself from the sadness of her world and achieves mental bliss. Much like Pecola, the character Dinah from Barbara Kingsolver’s classic faces difficulties living as a female in a male-dominated world. Dinah is trapped from the start of her life to a predestined and repetitive life of child-bearing and child-rearing and besides finding temporary refuge and liberation in the red tent, is trapped for most of her life. Dinah experiences a life of deceit, betrayal, and lost-love but is able to find liberation in the new and different life she chooses to live. Pecola Breedlove and Dinah are able to best achieve spiritual liberation and combat two very unfair societies through perseverance, patience, and hope for a positive change.
In the next two lines, they state: “We sing, but oh the clay is vile / Beneath our feet, and long the mile.” Dunbar speaks that the people are singing through the pain, even though they are imprisoned on this horrible earth, but will someday be free again, although that day may not come soon enough. The final two lines are very impacting. Dunbar expresses: “But let the world dream otherwise, / We wear the mask!” He says that the people of the world aren’t smart enough to realize the harshness that is happening to these African American people, mostly because they are choosing to do so. Dunbar ends his poem with the final saying of “ We wear the mask!” to express that they are strong and proud together and know that someday they will be free once more. The stating of this refrain one final time acts as a lyrical impact for the
As of 2015, startling statistics show that 82% of ‘black teens’ believe that racial discrimination will be a problem for their generation (Victoria M. Massie,2016), despite the decrease in social discrimination since the first Indigenous girl to attend a ‘all white school’, it is still known that racism still exists within youth’s society. Therefore, it is a privilege to share with you Paul Dunbar’s symbolic poem about racial discrimination, a youth issue that exists today and needs to be brought more into the light. The poem is to be analyzed and will be embedded with a comparison to other contemporary sources about this confronting youth issue. “We wear the mask” refers to people hiding their true feelings behind a false expression, he is
Over the course of the century chronicling the helm of slavery, the emancipation, and the push for civil, equal, and human rights, black literary scholars have pressed to have their voice heard in the midst a country that would dare classify a black as a second class citizen. Often, literary modes of communication were employed to accomplish just that. Black scholars used the often little education they received to produce a body of works that would seek to beckon the cause of freedom and help blacks tarry through the cruelties, inadequacies, and inconveniences of their oppressed condition. To capture the black experience in America was one of the sole aims of black literature. However, we as scholars of these bodies of works today are often unsure as to whether or not we can indeed coin the phrase “Black Literature” or, in this case, “Black poetry”. Is there such a thing? If so, how do we define the term, and what body of writing can we use to determine the validity of the definition. Such is the aim of this essay because we can indeed call a poem “Black”. We can define “Black poetry” as a body of writing written by an African-American in the United States that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of an experience or set of experiences inextricably linked to black people, characterizes a furious call or pursuit of freedom, and attempts to capture the black condition in a language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm. An examination of several works of poetry by various Black scholars should suffice to prove that the definition does hold and that “Black Poetry” is a term that we can use.