“The Lynching” by Thylias Moss

The three poems that inspired me to write this poem was “The Lynching” by Thylias Moss, “Incident” by Countee Cullen, and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes. I used these influences to help me write a poem that focused on a theme that was common in each poem. Each of these poems had a theme of racism and the impact that it has. These poems can be used to help readers understand scenarios and personal experiences of racism and its reality.

In “The Lynching” by Thylias Moss, it shows the lynching of Black people and the pain that it caused the person that had to endure it and also how the people around were affected by the lynching. In the seventh stanza line two it states, “After the bath, the man is hung as if just his washed shirt, the parts of him most capable of sin removed”(637). This quote shows the pain of lynching which is being hung by the neck to die. But mainly shows the abuse and discrimination that African Americans had to endure. Throughout the poem, Moss mainly speaks about the oppression of African Americans in history and physical pain endured in that time period. In order to express this theme, Moss uses literary tools such as imagery, tone and diction to help the reader to understand the concept of her poem. This poem influenced me because it vividly shows what African Americans had to endure and the point of view of a little boy watching his father who was apart of the Ku Klux Klan kill an innocent black man.

Langston Hughes’ poem “”Theme for English B”” is a contemplation of the speaker after his professor assigns the students to write one page and says that whatever the students write, as long as it comes from them, will be true. The speaker struggles with this idea. He notices that there is a separation between him and his professor because the professor is white and the speaker is black. The speaker goes on to cite some things that he experiences. He notes that he is the only African American student in the class and the race of his teacher. This was common during the Jim Crow era because African Americans had more difficulty gaining entrance into exclusive schools than whites. He also goes on to explain to readers what it is like to be him. In lines 16-41, Hughes has has his own way of describing the oppression that African Americans experienced at the actions of the patriarchal system(525). This poem influenced me because it shows that the speaker is trying to figure himself out while being faced with racism.

The poem, “Incident” by Countee Cullen, portrays the racism shown among the blacks and even among children. The poet clearly explains that racism is painful and no matter your age, you may have to face it. Cullen wants to show readers that blacks are humans and deserve to be treated equally despite of the obstacles they had to overcome. Through his poem, He is sharing a childhood memory of when he went to Baltimore at the age of eight for a few months and he met another young boy who said one word to him which was “nigger”(line 8). This incident scarred the speaker and it was clear that this was the only memory the speaker remembers. This poem influenced me because it show readers that words are very powerful and made them aware of the reality of racism and the power it holds.

These poems had a great influence on my poem. It gave me the idea to use m&ms and their different colors to help explain why racism is wrong. Each poem was powerful and contained a powerful theme of racism and showed the effects that it has on people. These poem also were written to help readers not only think of racism, but to think about how quickly people are to judge someone by their race.”

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