“dear white america” By Danez Smith

Dear White American is a poem written by Danez Smith under frustration due to the racism he experienced as an African American. They use the poem as a wake-up call to “White America” to call out the system and the normalized racism in society. As his whole poem is calling society out, I decided to do a critical analysis.

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“i’ve left Earth to find a place where my kin can be safe, where black people ain’t but people the same color as the good, wet earth, until that means something, until  then i bid you well, i bid you war, i bid you our lives to gamble with no more. i’ve left Earth & i am touching everything you beg your telescopes to show you. i’m giving the stars their right names.”

In these lines, Danez speaks of the inconceivable as they reach out to space and leave the earth for a world better. In this new world, they reach planets further than is done in reality. Showing how to further developed the world can be if people didn’t live under a system of oppression. How better the world can be if it wasn’t built on the backs of slaves and the injustices of others.

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“steal or sell or cast overboard or hang or beat or drown or own or redline or shackle or silence or cheat or choke or cover up or jail or shoot or jail or shoot or jail or shoot or ruin”

In the lines “steal or sell or cast overboard or hang or beat or drown or own or redline or shackle or silence or cheat or choke or cover up or jail or shoot or jail or shoot or jail or shoot or ruin” there is a repetition and list of many injustices black people have experienced. A juxtaposition of the past and present can be seen in the lines “steal or sell or cast overboard or hang” they speak of the past as many of their ancestors were brought to America and sold among society and used as slaves. They then relate it to the present as they speak of African Americans being shot, and jailed to bring the point that nothing has changed. Although slavery is gone new issues have arisen to take its place. The repetition of “shoot or jail” also emphasizes the recurring events of police brutality against the black community.

One thing I came to realize while reading this work is that they use many references to create a contrast between present-day racism and racism experienced by their ancestors. Which is a recurring theme in many of their poems. They always created similarities between the past and present to emphasize that although society is moving forwards it is still stuck in the same spot. Like a broken record player, although the disk ( representing society) is moving, the lyrics or music on the record is repeating the same lyrics (representing the fact that society is still hung up on the same derogatory ideas). Which I have also been able to witness when the poem inspired me to reflect on society. Many people base racism on the past and claim it’s only racist if it has something to do with harassment on an extreme level. For example, many influencers on social media have become famous for minuscule jokes about racial stereotypes. But because racism isn’t as bad as it was in the past it’s brushed under the rug and normalized in society. Even defended when called out.

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“We shoot children too, don’t we?” By Dan Almagor

This poem really hit my heart as it spoke of the war going on in the middle east between Palestinians and Israelis. Although the most evident message is the prominent idea of anti-war, a more universal message I saw was we as people should treat others equally as we are all humans and we should not let a bias cloud our judgment on our opinions on them. Dan Almagor conveys this message through the way he writes his poem.

“No less diligent, no less smart.

As sensitive, as full of hope.

They love their wives and children

As we do, no less.”

For example in these lines he creates a bridge over the abyss created by the two states of Palestine and Israel, showing how both races are the same. Although cultures follow different ideals, we are all women and share the same love in this world. He does this many times as he shows the hypocrisy in the way we as humans think. As humans we allow our judgments of others to be decided by the appearance or faith an individual may have. We group people among many sub-sections of the human race among categories like the poor and the rich, or the color of people’s skin. Then pit them in a hierarchy based on what we think is better, allowing this to control our actions. But looking past this and seeing each other internally, we are able to see the light and darkness among each other. We are able to see that we all love the same and that we all grieve or feel sorrow the same. But this is not an idea of just a man trying to advocate for his race, but an idea created by the world.

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Images referenced