American Racism Exposed in Poems by Langston Hughes and Sherman Alexie

902 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racist literature in contemporary

American Racism Exposed in Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again" and Sherman Alexie's, "Capital Punishment"

The issue of racial discrimination has become societal norm in America. Poems like Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again" and Sherman Alexie's, "Capital Punishment" show the injustice that still exists. Both poems speak to the prejudice that is accepted and current in America's past and present. Alexie and Hughes, both from minority groups, have seen the ugly face of racism. Both poems have many similarities, including the obvious tone of anger. The pieces also have their differences, while Hughes poem speaks from the viewpoint of one of the oppressed; Alexie's speaker is just a witness. Both writers draw attention to the injustices that minority groups face daily in this land of the free.

Sherman Alexie, A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, grew up on a reservation in Washington yet attended a high school where he was, as he so eloquently said, "the only Indian...except for the school mascot."(Alexie) Even though he was a star basketball player he still faced the torment of his schoolmates due to his heritage. This injustice influenced Alexie to compose the poem, "Capital Punishment." This poem tells the story of an Indian who was sentenced to death, the story is told from the perspective of the cook who prepares his last meal. The line "I am not a witness" is repeated throughout the poem, it is said after Alexie addresses a sensitive societal issue. Topics concentrated on are prejudice, homosexuality and clearly capital punishment. Alexie uses subtleties at first, alliterating to his stance on capital punishment but by the end of the poem the anger and frustration is prevalent. The speaker o...

... middle of paper ...

...ure. Not only does Hughes reject the idea of "the American Dream" he discards the proposal that America is the land of the free. Would America properly function without the oppressed, the people who work 50 hour weeks at minimum wage, the people who created this "America?" Without those people the comfortable lifestyle most of us know would be gone. So, the poor, colored and those of a different nationalities are denied chances to succeed to keep 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 has been 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 man's but the immigrants, the Africans, the Indians and the poor.

Show More
Related

  • Repetition In Sherman Alexie's Writing By Sherman Alexie

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sherman Alexie was a man who is telling us about his life. As an author he uses a lot of repetition, understatement, analogy, and antithesis. Alexie was a man of greater words and was a little Indian boy at the beginning of the story and later became a role model for other boys like him who were shy and alone. Alexie was someone who used his writing to inspire others such as other Indian kids like himself to keep learning and become the best that they can be.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie Quote

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” As a kid Sherman Alexie grew up on a reservation for Indians.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie and Native American Writing

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sherman Alexie began his literary career writing poetry and short stories, being recognized for his examination of the Native American (Hunter 1). Written after reading media coverage of an actual execution in the state of Washington, Sherman Alexie’s poem Capital Punishment tells the story of an Indian man on death row waiting for his execution. The poem is told in the third person by the cook preparing the last meal as he recalls the many final meals he has prepared over the years. In addition to the Indian currently awaiting his death, the cook speaks of a black man who was electrocuted and lived to tell about it, only to be sent back to the chair an hour later to be killed again. He also recalls many of the meals he had prepared had been for dark-skinned men convicted of killing white people. The thought of racial discrimination in capital punishment seems to be the theme at first glance, but reading further indicates differently. The cook also ponders his own survival in the prison system as an inmate. Learning to cook and outlasting all the others before him, whether by age or fate, allowed him the opportunity to create food filled with love for the one that will die. After this final meal has been prepared by the cook for the condemned inmate to eat, fear and anticipation takes over his body. Just as proper temperature is needed for cooking, a proper amount of electricity is needed to operate the electric chair and this need creates a dimming and flickering effect in the prison reminding all those left behind of their possible fate:

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Indian Education By Alexie Sherman

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alexie Sherman, a boy under an Indian Reservation that suffers from bullying since the 1st grade, who would have a hard time being around white people and even Indian boys. US Government provided him glasses, accommodation, and alimentation. Alexie chose to use the title "Indian Education" in an effort to express his internalized feelings towards the Native American education system and the way he grew up. He uses short stories separated by the different grades from first grade to twelfth grade to give an idea of what his life was like. He seemed to have grown up in a world surrounded by racism, discrimination, and bullying. This leads on to why he chose not to use the term Native American. He used the term "Indian" to generate negative connotations

    Read More

  • The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian Essay

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life

    Read More

  • Superman and Me

    620 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alexie begins the essay by telling the audience some background information about himself and his family. He tells of how they lived on an Indian Reservation and survived on “a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food.” (Page 1, para. 1) Right from the start, Alexie grabs the emotions of his audience. Alexie then goes on to talk of his father and how because of his love for his father, he developed a love for reading. “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.” (Page 1, para. 2) He talks of how he taught himself to read and that because of the books he began to thirst for more knowledge. Alexie says that once he learned to read, he began to advance quickly in his schooling. However, because of his thirst for knowledge, he got into much trouble. “A smart Indian was a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike.” (Page 2, para. 6) This statement is one of the most powerful statements in the entire essay. The reason for this being that Alexie knows that trouble will come but he was not going to let it ...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Sherman Alexie describes a moment in

    Read More

  • Let America Be America Again

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poems are expression of the human soul, and even though, is not everyone’s cup of tea when the individual finds that special poem it moves their soul one with the poet. There are many poets in the world, but the one that grab my attention the most was no other than Langston Hughes. It would be impossible for me to cover all the poems he wrote, but the one that grab my attention the most is called “Let America Be America Again.” It first appeared in “1938 pamphlet by Hughes entitled A New Song. Which was published by a socialist organization named the International Worker Order” (MLM) and later change back to its original name. I have never felt such an energy coming out of a poem like this one which is the reason that I instantly felt in love with it.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's Superman And Me

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this story was to help other Indian children that are in the same position he is at to save their lives with reading. Why with reading though? Because reading is a basic skill of knowledge that will lead your to more and more intelligence. He shares in the last paragraph of his short story that there are two different students. The ones that are already saving their lives by reading his stories and fleeing to him when he comes to the reservations and those that have already given up and are defeated in the last row in the back of the class room. Sherman Alexie effectively states clearly “I am trying to save our lives.” He uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to describe his difficult life in the Indian reservations and how he persevered and strikes the world as an intelligent boy. Alexie says. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. We were indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Even though Alexie became and incredibly smart, he never became an of those things. He was known as an idol, trying to save the lives of young Indian children in the

    Read More

  • I, Too by Langston Hughes

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    When looking at the poem, Hughes expresses the pride that he has in his heritage and in who h...

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's Indian Education

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.

    Read More

  • Hypocrisy: The Ways Of The South

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of Don King's most memorable quotes is, “Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is still her favorite child.” Throughout history and even today, the south has been stereotyped for its violence towards African Americans. In the 1920’s and 1930's many poems emerged concerning the problematic amount of violence against blacks during that period including Langston Hughes Song for a Dark Girl, and Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit. During this period Blacks often were murdered, beaten, and degraded. Although these poems have a melancholy nature, it transcends its time, because it persuaded blacks to become stronger and united.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Let America Be America Again

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Langston Hughes’ poem “let America be America Again” shows the many challenges a country faces to be its best self. Countries are controlled by human beings who are not perfect and it is a reflection of their ideas beliefs and values and as people change a nation change as well. However, a nation must live up to the expectation of the people and hold their beliefs and values to be its truest self possible. If a nation can not do this then it is up to the people to foster

    Read More

  • Comparing Poems 'I, Too And' Theme For English B

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • My Dream In Langston Hughes's As I Grew Older

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another poetic verse that illustrates Hughes' desire to establish a community of African- Americans who are accepting of their racial identities is As I Grew Older. The poem begins with: "It was a long time ago, I have almost forgotten my dream" (1-2). By starting with a "once upon a time" theme, it seems as though the speaker is reflecting upon a poignant time in his life which has most likely been his childhood years. Consequently, the speaker states: "I have almost forgotten my dream...in front of me bright like a sun..."(2-6). From the few statements, "dream" is centering idea. A dream is an intangible idea that powers ambition, and hope, rendering the individual confident and hopeful for the future. However, the speaker has "almost forgotten" his dream, meaning that his dream was no longer attainable or more simply, he could not reach it. Additionally, when the speaker states: "it was there then, in front of me, bright like a sun," the speaker acknowledges his blindness and the inevitable fact that like the sun which naturally rises and sets everyday without much reasoning, his dream was no longer his priority. By comparing the sun to his dream, the speaker is also alluding to the universal actions that all human beings all partake in. Every day, we are caught up by school, work, and life. However, we never once think about the surrounding natural events that occur around us. The sun gives us light and does not allow us to live in obscurity; the trees, the air that we breathe, and gravity helps us survive in this planet, but we take them for granted. In the same way, the speaker has forgotten what he has been living for and only acknowledges it once he has grown older and the racial struggles that he endures are now too hard ...

    Read More

More about American Racism Exposed in Poems by Langston Hughes and Sherman Alexie

Open Document