Prejudice And Racism Exposed In The Black Eyed Pea

Good evening, I’m Lachlan Dent, and welcome to a special edition of 60 minutes.

Racism is a term that can be defined and used in different contexts for different people. To some, racism is an approach of existence, whereas to others, it is a revolting term that symbolizes closed-mindedness. Racism is something we’ve all witnessed, and has been and still is one of the most significant issues that people have faced, and are still currently facing. In contemporary society, a person tends to discriminate against someone who may seem ‘different’. These actions are ultimately the result of concepts built up through living in a society that has suffered countless years of oppression and racial segregation. Artists and poets often create songs and

The main message of the song is what is going wrong in the present era and of years’ part, and implies that one should restore peace to the world and bring back ‘the love’. The use of rhyme, similes, metaphors, hyperboles, and repetition, effectively support this message. This is clearly evident in stanza 1, line 2, “People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas” where a simile is seen as the artist is comparing living life without discipline. Similarly, a metaphor is used in stanza 10, line 7, “Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria”, this is used essentially to emphasize how the media effects young people’s minds. Additionally, a hyperbole can be seen in stanza 10, line 1, “I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder”, this is a hyperbole as you cannot literally carry the world on your shoulder. These poetic devices were used in order to outline the social issue of racism within the 20th century, and effectively supports that artists and poets create songs and poems to mirror society’s attitudes and values at that particular point in time. In addition to The Black Eyed Pea’s ‘Where is the love?’, Usher uses poetic devices to outline the social issue of racism in the 21st century within his song