Crystal Valentine On Evaluating Black Privilege
Nefertiti Jordan
Professor Stevens
English 1B
15 February 2017
On Evaluating Black Privilege Privilege a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. According to Critical Race Theory white privilege refers to the various social, political, and economic advantages white individuals experience in contrast of non-white citizens based on their racial membership. Privilege is often associated with white people. So, if there is white privilege there must be black privilege, as well. In the poem, “On evaluating black privilege”, poet Crystal Valentine examines just that. Valentine exposes the truth about the experiences and realities of being black in America. Explaining, in satirical …show more content…
Black people are a joke. Valentine mocks the idea of black people having any privilege of other than being the butt of joke. “And it’s tiring, you know, for everything about my skin to be a metaphor for everything black to be pun intended, to be death intended”. Another stanza in the poem Valentine tells about a time a teacher asked little boy what he wanted to be when he grew up and his response was “alive”. The teacher laughed and responded with “there’s no college for that”. For the teacher it was something that she could laugh off but for the little boy that is his life, a genuine goal. Realistically the only “special right” or “advantage” black people have is to make it day to …show more content…
Valentine explains in her poem that she was going to write a love poem but her fingers wouldn’t move and her skin started to blister, it thought she had forsaken it for something prettier. She tried to stray away from the seriousness and emotional reality of this poem but couldn’t bring herself to be silenced. She would have been true to herself if she hadn’t of written this. It was necessary to speak out about what is important to her and what is important for the world to hear. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable the topic is for some people. Valentine states that “black privilege is me thinking this poem is enough”. She says that mockingly because she knows it’s not enough but it’s a good start to raise
Professor Stevens
English 1B
15 February 2017
On Evaluating Black Privilege Privilege a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. According to Critical Race Theory white privilege refers to the various social, political, and economic advantages white individuals experience in contrast of non-white citizens based on their racial membership. Privilege is often associated with white people. So, if there is white privilege there must be black privilege, as well. In the poem, “On evaluating black privilege”, poet Crystal Valentine examines just that. Valentine exposes the truth about the experiences and realities of being black in America. Explaining, in satirical …show more content…
Black people are a joke. Valentine mocks the idea of black people having any privilege of other than being the butt of joke. “And it’s tiring, you know, for everything about my skin to be a metaphor for everything black to be pun intended, to be death intended”. Another stanza in the poem Valentine tells about a time a teacher asked little boy what he wanted to be when he grew up and his response was “alive”. The teacher laughed and responded with “there’s no college for that”. For the teacher it was something that she could laugh off but for the little boy that is his life, a genuine goal. Realistically the only “special right” or “advantage” black people have is to make it day to …show more content…
Valentine explains in her poem that she was going to write a love poem but her fingers wouldn’t move and her skin started to blister, it thought she had forsaken it for something prettier. She tried to stray away from the seriousness and emotional reality of this poem but couldn’t bring herself to be silenced. She would have been true to herself if she hadn’t of written this. It was necessary to speak out about what is important to her and what is important for the world to hear. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable the topic is for some people. Valentine states that “black privilege is me thinking this poem is enough”. She says that mockingly because she knows it’s not enough but it’s a good start to raise