The poem is about a black boy experiencing racism and discrimination in the 20th century. He wishes that his teacher would see him as a person rather than just his skin color. He wants to be able to enjoy normal activities without facing prejudice. The poem explores themes of racism, oppression, and the boy's desire to be treated equally. It is set in a time period when racist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan actively targeted black people.

1. Dreaming Black Boy – Fact Sheet
Main Idea: The poem is about a black skinned boy is being discriminated against because of
his colour. He is wishing that people would look beyond his colour and view him
as a person rather than a black boy and that he could enjoy the regular things in
life.
Reference: The passage speaks of the many problems of racism that many black people had
to face before. Almost all whites discriminated against blacks and treated them
as if they were inferiors. Racism occurred wherever whites and blacks met up,
whether in a school, church, office or even on a public bus. Whites discriminated
against blacks in many ways; derogatory names, denial of entry into public
buildings, violating their rights of freedom of speech and expressions and in
many other ways.
Genre: Lyric
Type:
Themes: Racism, Oppression
The persona wishes that racism doesn’t exist.
The persona wishes that people see him as a person and beyond his colour.
The persona wants to be accepted and enjoy all the regular things in life.
Racism causes people to feel inferior to others.
Mood: The mood of the poem is one of hurt and strong desire.
Setting: The poem is set in the 20th century when racism was rife in society. Though
racism was also prevalent before that period, the persona refers to his slaves
(woodchoppers) being his ancestors. Slavery ended in the 19th century, so for the
slaves to be his ancestors he must have existed generations after them. Another
factor indicating the setting is the fact that the boy went to school. No black
children went to school in the 19th century. In fact, not even all whites attended
school as such institutions were not abundant as they are now. Also the allusion
to the “Klu Klux Klan” in lines 22-25 gives an indication of the time period. This
anti black terrorist organization peaked between the 1920’s and 1950’s.

2. Imagery: The writer uses little imagery to convey his desire to be treated as an
equal. However some imagery can still be deduced from the poem. These images
focus on describing how unfairly the boy and other people of his colour were
treated.
 Lines 1-2:“I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t go past me today.” The image
of a teacher ignoring his/her own student just serves to show an
example of the wrong end of prejudice that the boy experienced.
It shows that racismeven existed in schools. This may also suggest
that the boy attended a school full of whites.
 Lines 2-4: “Wish he’d know it’s okay to hug me when I kick a goal.” This
shows how they thought of the boy because of his colour. They
didn’t regard him as equal to them, but as something inferior,
strange and so disgusting that they couldn’t even touch him.
 Lines 10-11: “And not sink to lick boots.” This image conveys to the reader
the demeaning jobs that coloured people at the time held. The
action of licking boots is one that is below anyone’s dignity and so
gives the reader that same image.
 Lines 25-26: “Wish people wouldn’t talk as if I dropped from Mars.” This
image again shows how the people viewed the boy. They didn’t
regard him as a human, but something else, similar to a
disgusting alien. They didn’t think he was fit to belong on earth.
Devices: Repetition:
 The boy conveys his strong desire for an end to racism by starting every
stanza with “I wish.” He makes clear his yearning and desperation for the
simple things that should be enjoyed in life.
 The repetition also gives rise to the idea that the persona
might believe that his wishes are actually dreams that might not come
true. If he was confident that these dreams would come true he would
have probably used a phrase with more confidence and surety.
Allusion:

3.  Stanza 1, lines 6 and 7, alludes to slavery, the state of lacking control over
one's own life and destiny. The fact that the persona refers to this gives a
hint to how he feels about his life. He does not feel as if he has control
over it.
 Stanza 3, lines 19 to 20, alludes to Paul Robeson, a black intellectual, who
attained success despite difficult circumstances. The persona yearns to
be like this person. He wants room to stretch intellectually.
 Stanza 4, lines 22 to 25, alludes to the “Klu Klux Klan,” a group infamous
for the terror they caused on the black race. Burning lights refers to the
burning crosses and the pyjamas allude to their white outfits that look
like pyjamas. The persona wants them to leave him alone, find something
else to do other than make his life difficult, as well as contributing to his
wishes remaining a dream.
Shifts: In the 1st stanza the persona focuses on racismin his school. In the next stanza
he focuses on how prejudice can affect his aspirations; “to be educated” and to
travel around the world. The 3rd stanza sees the writer wishing that he could
express himself and share his views, opinions, knowledge and intelligence.
In stanza 4, the writer gives a lengthy allusion to the KKK clan. He is wishing for
them to stop the terror that they are causing to people of colour. In the last
stanza the persona focuses on racismfrom a collective perspective. He is wishing
that racism came to end and that nobody would have to suffer from it.
Diction: