QUESTION: 1
Langston Hughes depicted traditions in his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by claiming that he knows the rivers which are old just like the world. He goes ahead to link the rivers with his own blood that flows in his own veins. The speakers of the poem connect him with the ancestors and explain that they are the significant cultural religious and historical sites in the whole world. He connect the traditions of human beings with the old rivers which basically the connection of the human race and human civilization (Bodenner, 2015). Despite the fact that the whites treated their black counterparts as non-human, Hughes uses the history of the rivers all over the world to provide a proof of the human race equality. The speakers of the poem sites Euphrates River to be the birth of human civilization. He later cited other world features such as: Nile River, Egyptian Pyramids and the Mississippi river which he links with Abraham Lincoln and the American Slavery. As Hughes shares many of his beliefs in the poem, he presents himself as a universal figure. His poem serves as a voice of the voiceless African Americans as he endeavored to establish their lineage to the frame of civilization.
In addition, Langston Hughes in his poem “The Weary Blues” blends poetry with the blues and jazz to form a powerful poetry lyric. The poem believes that despite the fact that the songs are associated with the whites who claim themselves to be civilized than the black, in the songs there were voices of the Negro. The Lines in the poem such as: “I got the Weary Blues” and “He did a lazy sway” are evidence of the quality of the poem and captures the rhythm and motion of the music (Bodenner, 2015). The stars and the moon are believed to be significant part of man. The writer believes that both the stars and the moon are connected just like the African Americans are connected with the Native Americans.
QUESTION: 2
Compromise
The “Atlanta Exposition Address” by President Booker T. Washington was a compromise to the black civil rights because while addressing to a predominant white audience. The speech aimed at improving the relationship between the whites and the black. He was encouraging the two races to work together for a common goal because there is no single race that could prosper not unless there was a compromise between the two races. He claimed that he was of a friendship that would cement the two races and bring them into cooperation in most of the political, social and economic affairs. At the beginning, he called the blacks to accept discrimination and segregation but concentrate on important aspects of learning trade, bettering themselves in every aspect as a race and work hard (Bodenner, 2015). According to him, it was of great significant for the black to concentrate on economic equality rather than political or social equality. He suggested that racial equality could only happen through racial discrimination and later be slowly eradicated. On the side of the blacks, Washington failed in his speech because he never made any effort of challenging the white supremacy which made the black race to continue waiting for their freedom. Despite the fact that many blacks believed that he was a traitor, in a matter of fact he was a supporter of the rights of the black race despite the fact that the freedom would not occur immediately it would occur in the future. He suggested that the blacks were responsible for their segregation by the white and there was need for their personal improvement in order for them to advance politically, socially and economically.
QUESTION: 3
The story of the “Space Traders” by Derrick Bell demonstrates that the lives of the blacks in America do not matter. The was set in regard to the American near future when the coal and the oil shall have gone, the government shall be financially broke, the air shall be spoilt, the civil rights shall have been overturned and most blacks shall be at a status of poverty. The Space Trader shall be in rescue of the Americans especially the white and provide machines which would produce clean and cheap power, chemicals which would clean the air and provide enough gold which would settle the entire Americans’ debt in order for the country to regain its wealth in exchange for all the black people in American territory (Bodenner, 2015).The whites are in support of the Space Trader’s idea while the blacks are solidly against the move. The story in regard to the Space Traders exchanging the necessary commodities required by the Americans to regain their economic and social prosperity illustrate that the rights and the lives of the black Americans is useless and can be traded just like any other commodity in the market. The whites sees no value to the lives of the blacks and suggests that if their economy and social prosperity can be regain through the trade, The Space Trader should go ahead with the trade.
QUESTION: 4
Ta-Nehisi Coates attempted to make the lives of the blacks to matter in his book “Between the World and Me” in section II and III because he describes the aspects of racial reality which would surprise the white race and readers. He links the social inequalities with climate inequalities. In the book the writer rejects the Americans mythos of white supremacy and suggests that the white supremacy in America is a reality rather than a structured reality. The action of the government not to take the necessary measures to Prince Jones who had committed murder illustrated that he was a force of nature. Ta-Nehisi Coates uses the case of the Prince Jones to demonstrate that despite the fact that supreme law in America might be protective of the Whites there would come a time when the blacks would be empowered and they would become hope of the future (Bodenner, 2015). They will be concerned with the nature of the laws and treatment occurring in the country just like nature decides where to cause destruction. The two sections cite how the Typhoon decides where to cause destruction and the Blacks would also have a chance of supremacy in the future.
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