1. Damned By It or Is One Able to Grow Strength From It? Being Black in AmericaBy Brandon Smith
2. Message Before Going Forward This research paper was meant to push the boundary Race is a very sensitive topic in America, but that does not mean that it should not be addressed I felt driven to go with this topic, because I, myself, am a young, African-American man, a soldier, a husband and a father of two sons
3. The Ethnocentric Idea of Whites Being Superior to Blacks Blacks are denied entrance into certain places and blacks were also sent to go through alternate entrances separate to whites Blacks were even denied into going into the same restrooms as whites; it is like as if being black was contagious.
4. Diving into blacks being frustrated with segregation and racism Two poems that demonstrate blacks frustrations with segregation and racism are Langston Hughes “One Way Ticket” and “Let America Be America Again.” Jim Crow laws made sure to separate blacks from whites in many ways. For example, in Mississippi, states were not allowed to promote equality neither in private nor in public; if someone was found doing so, they could face jail time, charged with a misdemeanor or pay a maximum fine of $500.
5. Comparing the treatment to Jews during Hitler’s reign to blacks Jews and blacks were both lynched based on their ethnicity Jews were also told to sit in the back of the bus Hughes poems, “America” compares blacks to Jews
6. Theme for English B goes into trying to educate others The character in Hughes poem, Theme for English B, tries to explain to the professor that ultimately the white professor will never understand what it is like to be a black man in America
7. Blacks need to let go of the past and let the past be a stepping stone to continue forward Learning to forgive what has happened to the black ancestors is healthy, but harboring and holding in resentment is a way to not get pass obstacles The poems, “Mother to Son” and “Let America be America Again” allow the reader to get to a point of forgiveness and moving on. Take the past, learn from what has happened, acknowledge the past and allow that to make oneself more successful in the future.
