Spanish Blood Purpose
Kasey Ellsworth
March 12, 2014
Period 4
Mr. Natoli
The Purpose of “Spanish Blood” Young, handsome, and talented… No one cares what can be brought to the table. What race do you call your own again? In the short story “Spanish Blood” written by Langston Hughes, we meet a young bi-racial boy named Valerio, who is a mix between the African American and Spanish races. Throughout the story we go on a journey of his life, where he is successful young but soon falls victim to racial slurs and punishment after branching away from his home and his mother. In writing Hughes is trying to captivate his reader by embedding in them what skin color means to society and what it means in relation to self-worth. Society has been brought up to believe that anyone of African American decent or that has African American blood flowing through their veins is the scum of the Earth. As stated in “Spanish Blood” “Colored folk ain’t got no money, and money’s what he’s after right?” From the quote the reader is led to think that all black people are poor, and less fortunate than people from other racial classes. However, that is untrue and overly exaggerated. Like every other person black people were put here to serve a purpose. Hughes helps his audience see the struggle that African American and mixed race people face every day by showing what cruelty they are forced to suffer through, but by doing so also never let them lose sight of what black people had to offer and the many talents they were given to help contribute to their success.
March 12, 2014
Period 4
Mr. Natoli
The Purpose of “Spanish Blood” Young, handsome, and talented… No one cares what can be brought to the table. What race do you call your own again? In the short story “Spanish Blood” written by Langston Hughes, we meet a young bi-racial boy named Valerio, who is a mix between the African American and Spanish races. Throughout the story we go on a journey of his life, where he is successful young but soon falls victim to racial slurs and punishment after branching away from his home and his mother. In writing Hughes is trying to captivate his reader by embedding in them what skin color means to society and what it means in relation to self-worth. Society has been brought up to believe that anyone of African American decent or that has African American blood flowing through their veins is the scum of the Earth. As stated in “Spanish Blood” “Colored folk ain’t got no money, and money’s what he’s after right?” From the quote the reader is led to think that all black people are poor, and less fortunate than people from other racial classes. However, that is untrue and overly exaggerated. Like every other person black people were put here to serve a purpose. Hughes helps his audience see the struggle that African American and mixed race people face every day by showing what cruelty they are forced to suffer through, but by doing so also never let them lose sight of what black people had to offer and the many talents they were given to help contribute to their success.