Black Lives Matter A political and social movement
Uploaded by BebeMcC on Apr 04, 2022
Black Lives Matter is a political and social movement in America that wants to highlight that racism, discrimination, and inequality still exist in the United States. We as Americans have to accept that the black experience is different from the white experience in this country. Imagine living in a country that you might love and hate at the same time. Imagine living in a place where the majority in charge look nothing like you and have no understanding of the life experiences that your skin color has inflicted upon you. There are stark examples of this bias in America; Justine Damon, a blonde white victim, was shot and killed by a police officer in Minneapolis; the officer was relieved of duty and brought up on manslaughter charges shortly after the incident. While Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police, the consequences were far less severe or even nonexistent for those officers.
America by Claude McKay was written in 1921 and summed up his love and hate for the country into which he migrated. "Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tigers tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests by youth." (McKay 471) Claude McKay speaks very clearly that he believes that the people in this country openly hate him. He describes his life as "hell" and says that America has strong-armed "bitterness" onto him. When he compares America to a tiger's tooth sinking into his neck, he is painting a picture for us of the physical pain he is feeling. "This cultured hell that tests my youth," (McKay 471) is more of the picture, and that verse speaks to his emotional and psychological pain. This "test" he is going through is not literal but metaphorical.
Mr. McKay speaks in verse about his love for his newly adopted country and how it gives him the strength to survive the negative. "Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate," (McKay 471). The poet points out very clearly that America is big and strong, "like the tides." Therefore, the country that has inflicted physical and mental pain on him also helps him endure. While America may hate him, he does not return the feeling, "as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not...