Answer

WHY IS WE AMERICANS?

            Amiri Baraka, who was not only a poet but also an activist, was not afraid to speak up about racial discrimination. His focus, as was evident through his work, was not acceptance by the white middle class. He had a much bigger goal, to speak up about the things that matter to the black Americans. This paper delves into his poetry, “Why is we Americans?” giving thoughts on the piece. 

“… For all the segregated shacks we lived in…” Amiri Baraka’s poetic description of the racial segregation that happened in America remind me of a story I was told about a black man. He had made enough money to move into a white neighborhood back when all Afro-Americans lived in shacks. He tried to buy or rent a house in a white neighborhood and he was turned down, not because he could not afford the house but simply because of the color of his skin. Amiri’s poetic piece wittingly highlights the past and present struggles of black Americans challenging the White supremacy theory. His poetic piece unflinchingly tackles these issues leading up to the question, “Why is we Americans?” He, however, does not stop there. He prudently challenges the black Americans not to give in but to maintain their distinctive black sense of worth and self-reliance making the poetic piece very inspirational. Listening to the poetic piece, as a black American, inspires hope that in the face of racial discrimination, it is still possible to succeed. It also sends out a warning to any person with racial discriminatory behavior that the black Americans are not from a ‘foolish tribe’. They know their rights and will continue fighting for them.

In summary, Amiri was a fearless poet activist addressing the issues of racial discrimination. His piece, “Why is we Americans?”, challenges black Americans to maintain their distinctive black sense of worth. It also warns racial discriminators that blacks know their rights and they will continue fighting for them.

36

 Documentary: Racism - A History (Part 3)  

QUESTION

Analyze and discussion - Documentary: Racism - A History (Part 3)    

ANSWER

Analysis and Discussion of themes in “Racism: A History”

One of the key themes that permeates the documentary, “Racism: A History”, is racial violence, its origins and impacts. Labeling of the people of color as criminals, and police brutality against them, are a result of racial violence that was instigated by white colonies in various parts of the world in the late 1880s. Violence against people of color was not thought of racial until in the post-World War II, when it was used to describe the Nazi treatment of the Jewish people. To demonstrate the roots of racial violence, the documentary describes how millions of people suffered and lost their lives during the European colonial rule.

In the U.S., Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation between the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century, especially in the South, invited racial violence that took different forms. The most common form of violence was lynching, which saw thousands of people of color, including more than 3,500 black Americans, loss their lives in the U.S. between 1882 and 1927. To illustrate how savage the violence directed toward the people of color was, James Allen, one of the documentary commentators tells the story of a 17-year-old black American boy, who was falsely accused of killing a white woman, was brutally burned to death as more than 16,000 watched and cheered. Evidently, this shows that the police killings and other forms of brutality against the dark skinned people as well as the preferential treatment of crime suspects that we see today is not new. Instead, it has existed throughout history, and might continue through many generations to come.

            After watching the documentary, I was sympathetic for the victims of racial violence. As an Indian, whose home country was colonized by the British, I can relate on the suffering that dark skinned people are currently going through in the U.S. Although racial violence against Indians is not as widespread as it is against African Americans, Hispanics and other people with mixed skin tones, it feels very unfortunate that these innocent people are being incarcerated and killed just because of their skin color – something they have no control of.