The century-long question asks when government involvement becomes too much or too little. Many debate this question, but is there truly a correct answer? Regardless of one’s stance on this debate, reflecting on the history of strong government involvement, we often find oppressive and authoritarian rule. This discourse often occurs due to the leader beginning with a strong, hopeful campaign concept that is truly just manipulation to get the citizens to believe the lies of the power-hungry leader. Not only can we conclude that history proves that excessive involvement is oppressive, but many authors also agree and demonstrate this in their works of literature. The government has a tremendous impact on our lives, as does an oppressive government …show more content…
One of the most familiar forms of oppression in the States is racism. Throughout the years of the US, slavery was very apparent, as well as general oppression and hatred toward people of color. Claude McKay’s poem, “America,” discusses how the hidden tax of oppression influenced the cost of the “American life” during the 1880’s. “she feeds me bread of bitterness, and sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, stealing my breath of life” (McKay, 1889) These lines heavily impact the reader by allowing them to acknowledge the experience of one who has been heavily oppressed. Although McKay obviously states the feeling of oppression, he also mentions how through the pain, there is a breath of hope through the troubles. “Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there.” (McKay) After realizing the country’s underlying platform of racism, McKay writes from his home perspective, a man living in Jamaica, looking at the raw effects of oppression in the …show more content…
Poet, Jamaal May, writes in “A Brief History of Hostility” how war destroys the people by slowly introducing phases of oppression. May writes this poem from the stance of a slave during the Civil War. Not only does May discuss the slave’s view of the war throughout, but also the emotions attached to the oppression and torture faced during this time. “They took the light from our eyes. Possessive. The. Took the moisture from our throats. My arms, my lips, my sternum, sucked dry.” (May, 2013) These specific lines paint a disgusting image of the brutality added on to the already painful life of a slave. During the civil war, the North and South debated on whether slavery should be legal, but regardless, it was. This same government willingly allowed slavery, a form of oppressive racism, to endure for many years, killing thousands and torturing the rest. Although these excerpts display the emotions the apparent speaker is experiencing, the beginning of the poem alludes to the books of Genesis and John in the Bible. May writes, “In the beginning there was war. The war said, let there be war and there was war. The war said let there be peace and there was war” (May, 2013). This subtly implies that the war has been present long before we ever realized and is never-ending. The war also references the ongoing oppression throughout
In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their
The world today can sometimes be a hard place to live, or at least live in comfort. Whether it be through the fault of bullies, or an even more wide spread problem such as racism, it is nearly impossible to live a day in the world today and feel like it was only full of happiness and good times. Due to this widespread problem of racism, often times we tend to see authors go with the grain and ignore it, continuously writing as if nothing bad happens in the world. Fortunately, Claudia Rankine, is not one of these authors. Rankine manages to paint a vivid picture of a life of hardships in her lyric Citizen: An American Lyric. In this lyric Claudia Rankine shows that she truly has a very interesting and not commonly used approach to some literary
As of late, racism has been a topic on everyone’s lips. Whether it’s because of police brutality in certain regions of the USA, or due to the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump. “I, Too” by Langston Hughes and “Dear White America” by Danez Smith both talk about this very serious topic. Although these two poems are from completely different time periods, both discuss the same matter, which is racism towards African Americans.
Millions of people of all nationalities came to America during the twentieth century with the hope of finding a new and better life for themselves. These immigrants were lured by the thought of obtaining the American Dream--"life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" in the "land of opportunity." Unfortunately, few immigrants were actually successful in achieving the dream. Most were faced with hardship and discrimination, instead of the expected equality and freedom. The dire living conditions hampered their ability to pursue "happiness" and created what W.E.B. Dubois called "the veil," which refers to the fabric of racism that separates whites from other ethnicities and causes non-whites to see themselves under the distortion of a discriminative society. Thus, the idealized images of America were shattered by a grim reality. The harsh realities that these immigrants found are depicted in literary works such as The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, America is in the Heart, and ...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. Through the protagonist of the novels, the authors convey the dispiriting side of the America that the immigrants unknowingly fell into.
This essay will summarize and reflect upon 5 individuals who were born into, and grew up in the United States of America under slavery. Lucinda Davis, Charity Anderson, Walter Calloway, Fountain Hughes and Richard Toley each have a compelling story to tell about the time when black Americans were not looked at as citizens and were not free to make decisions that were afforded to white Americans. Although their stories are brief and do not reflect all of the daily hardships that were faced by slaves during that time in our Nation’s history, they are, nonetheless, powerful in their message. Fearing above all else a beating that would result from a perceived act of disrespect, the fact that each of these individuals survived is an example of the human spirits desire to survive in the direst of situations and the ability to overcome insurmountable odds.
All human beings are born with genes that are unique to them and make us the individuals we become. The right to exist as an individual in society achieving the best possible potential of one’s existence irrespective of any bias is expected by most humans. In the essay, ‘The new Civil Rights’ Kenji Yoshino discusses how the experience of discovering and revealing his sexual preference as a gay individual has led to him proposing a new civil rights by exploring various paradigms of the rights of a human being to exist in today’s diverse society. In exploring the vast demands of rights ranging from political or basic human rights we have differentiated ourselves into various groups with a common thread weaving through all the demands which
Racism is an ugly word that churns up strong emotions whenever it is mentioned. Shocking images of lynchings, church bombings and race riots creep into the mind, and cause an almost physical reaction of repulsion and disgust. History books and old television clips do a good job of telling the story of racial hatred in America, but not what it actually felt like to be an African American during those times. James Baldwin, a noted African American author from New York in the 1950s and 1960s, knew what it was like to experience years of unrelenting, dehumanizing racial injustice. In his essay, “Notes of a Native Son,” Baldwin uses his literary skills to tell about his family’s painful history under racism and also to analyze the effects of racial hatred on society – hatred that he compares to a disease of the human spirit.
Marilyn Frye, a feminist philosopher, discusses the idea of oppression and how it conforms people into gender roles. She claims that it is based upon membership in a group which leads to shaping, pressing, and molding individuals, both women and men.
“There exists this medical term- John Henryism- for people exposed to stresses stemming from racism. They achieve themselves to death trying to dodge the buildup of erasure.”1 People who live with this constant stress have the sense that they need to work extraordinarily harder for their accomplishments to be recognized, and prevent the erasure of their entire life meaning. In the book Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine describes her personal encounters of racism and inequality, and its ceaseless recurrence proves that both ideologies are still thriving today. Whether it be from a stranger, or a close friend, attacks on her person and identity are a repetitive manifestation in her everyday life. Rankine often refers back to the themes
This image is the author’s perspective on the treatment of “his people” in not only his hometown of Harlem, but also in his own homeland, the country in which he lives. The author’s dream of racial equality is portrayed as a “raisin in the sun,” which “stinks like rotten meat” (Hughes 506). Because Hughes presents such a blatantly honest and dark point of view such as this, it is apparent that the author’s goal is to ensure that the reader is compelled to face the issues and tragedies that are occurring in their country, compelled enough to take action. This method may have been quite effective in exposing the plight of African-Americans to Caucasians. It can be easily seen that Hughes chooses a non-violent and, almost passive method of evoking a change. While Hughes appears to be much less than proud of his homeland, it is apparent that he hopes for a future when he may feel equal to his fellow citizens, which is the basis of the “dream” that has been
...ites a short 33-line poem that simply shows the barriers between races in the time period when racism was still openly practiced through segregation and discrimination. The poem captures the African American tenant’s frustrations towards the landlord as well as the racism shown by the landlord. The poem is a great illustration of the time period, and it shows how relevant discrimination was in everyday life in the nineteen-forties. It is important for the author to use the selected literary devices to help better illustrate his point. Each literary device in the poem helps exemplify the author’s intent: to increase awareness of the racism in the society in the time period.
The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.
Thesis: The poems “Negro”, “I Too”, and “Song for a Dark Girl” by Langston Hughes was written around an era of civil inequality. A time when segregation was a customary thing and every African American persevered through civil prejudice. Using his experience, he focuses his poems on racial and economic inequality. Based on his biographical information, he uses conflict to illustrate the setting by talking about hardships only a Negro would comprehend and pride only a Negro can experience, which helps maintain his racial inequality theme.
Mrs Birling: It’s just funny how you have the same name as the head of
So, the poor, colored and those of different nationalities are denied chances to succeed in keeping the traditional values. Both poems address the widespread societal issue of racism that is so prevalent in America. Hughes and Alexie seem to agree that judgment of others is the disgrace of our nation. If the color of a man's skin did not have such a great value in our society, maybe then America could be everyone's. Not just the rich white men but the immigrants, the Africans, the Indians and the poor.