Preview

If We Must Die Mckay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
449 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
If We Must Die Mckay
Racism had always been a problem in certain parts of the United States around the 1930s, but that sparked many movements, one especially was the Harlem Renaissance. In the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay uses key phrases to show how colored people are being treated during the time of the Harlem Renaissance and how they should be able to overcome the racism and violence because he himself was colored and experienced some of the racism himself and was able to stand strong against it.
One of the ideas being addressed is how colored people are being treated during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. The author was able to show this idea since he wrote this in the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. An example of the idea being shown is
…show more content…
While McKay wrote this, he was able to witness racism firsthand and able to write about his experience he saw in his own way. An example of how the African Americans are dealing with the racism is “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”(McKay). The quote is saying how the African Americans are facing all the racism and even if they might not be winning the fight, they’re still trying their hardest against it all. The African Americans know how bad it is, and yet they’re trying to fight it all off.
To summarize, the message that’s being brought out by both ideas is that no matter what you mean to other people, always think of yourself as equally as them. Colored people were always treated with disrespect and they eventually overcame all the violence and racism that was being directed towards them in the Harlem Renaissance. The message is important because the Harlem Renaissance was a big movement to help the cause of racial inequality. Without the Harlem Renaissance, many things would most likely be very different to this

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the poem, “The White City,” McKay once again utilizes the power of figurative language and descriptive imagery to illustrate the ongoing battles that African American faced during the time of racism and segregation. McKay’s title “The White City,” symbolizes the fact that the speaker is a black man in a city full of predominantly white individuals, and it is because of his skin color that he is discriminated against. When the speaker says, “My being would be a skeleton, a shell,” (Line 5) he is metaphorically comparing himself to a skeleton and a shell. A skeleton is a lifeless object with no soul, and by comparing himself to a soul-less object, he is emphasizing that without his “dark passion,” (Line 6) which is his “life-long hate” (Line 3) towards whites, he would be empty, like a “shell” (Line 5). McKay’s use of this metaphor shows just how driven the speaker is to prevent himself from being discouraged and his refusal to accept the fact that he will never be an equal part of the “mighty city” (Line 9). McKay then uses personification in line eight to exaggerate the speakers need to be full of hatred because it is his anger and frustration that feeds him “vital blood,” (Line…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Then the student gives the route he takes to get from the college to his apartment and where he sits down to write his assignment. He studies the difficulty of writing something that is “true” or would be judged as true by an apparently white instructor or what is even true for him, a twenty-two year old black man. But then he concludes that he is what he feels, sees, and hears, and he says he hears Harlem.…

    • 514 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They began to express this new found freedom during the 1920s, when almost 1 million African Americans left the South and migrated to New York, Chicago and other urban centers (Foner 796). A new term called the "New Negro" came into play, which in art meant the rejection of established stereotypes and a search for black values to put in their place (Foner 797). This established a quest led by writers which birthed the Harlem Renaissance to show the roots of the black experience (Foner 797). The Harlem Renaissance is where we see African Americans really express their freedom because Harlem contained a vibrant black cultural community that established links with New York's artistic mainstream (Foner 796). For the first time Broadway presented a black actor in a serious role and African Americans were also seen in shows like Dixie to Broadway and Blackbirds (Foner 797). The theaters in Harlem flourished due to the freeing of black writers and actors. The Harlem Renaissance writing contained a strong element of protest like Cluade McKays poem "If We Must Die" (Foner 798). This poem was in response to the black riots in 1919 by "affirming that blacks would no longer allow themselves to be murdered defenselessly by whites" (Foner 798).…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this passage, Harper Lee uses the elements of character, setting, and tone to describe the theme of recognizing perspectives. As Jem is witnessing the trial of Tom Robinson vs. Mayella Ewell, his character as a whole has changed from being a boy to becoming a man. Also, the setting of both the court and Maycomb County has showed Jem that the world will never be a perfect place, as long as racism will be around. Lastly, the different feelings and emotions Jem feels during the trial and at home with Atticus has shown readers the different ways a boy can experience his coming of age. Therefore, the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, can be understood at a level in which readers are able to experience racism during the Great…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Harlem Renaissance was a time in which African Americans had an intellectual and inventive movement that thrived with the twentieth century. The Harlem renaissance contribution was based on the influential events of the “New Negro Movement” extended throughout the world. After the Civil War, a great number of people migrated to urban areas. Areas like these were such as Chicago or in New York City. This is where a different way of life developed for African Americans. (Fiero, pages 100-101).…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the major differences between the New Negro and the African American is the viewpoint on the culture. The aspects of the culture that is being focused on is the literary, and the fine arts. “In Harlem Renaissance literature,…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Despite the advancement of America in ways that were extraordinary, Negros were still being treated harshly and considered the inferior race. However, during this period of constant discrimination through stereotypical accusations, undermining, and prejudice, the New Negro arose and revolutionized society as a whole. Through reading the works of prominent social activists Langston Hughes and Alain Locke; it can be understood that the concept of the New Negro was a promising aspect during the Harlem Renaissance. The “New Negro”, coined by Alain Locke, is described as being a modernist – an independent and self-guided individual who would go against longstanding white supremacy and prove his equality and noncompliance to unreasonable white assumptions and demands. Langston Hughes and Alain Locke both pushed for the acknowledgement of the American Negro’s part in society as the emanating New Negro sought social compensation for the misjudgment and inequality they faced. The impression Langston Hughes and Alain Locke made, and the message they brought through their works, can be appreciated through Aaron Douglas’s “Building More Stately…

    • 1745 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Harlem Renaissance, many African Americans struggled through a shifting period in time from slavery to equality. Some African Americans expressed their feelings at that time through poetry such as “Yet Do I Marvel” written by Countee Cullen and “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. In “Yet Do I Marvel” Cullen writes about how the struggles he is facing relate to God and how he is being punished. McKay’s poem is slightly different; he emphasizes the idea of dying an honorable death for his freedom. These two poems are classic examples of how some African Americans felt during the Harlem Renaissance. Both of these poems depict oppression and some form of punishment but they also have different tones and inclusion of God revealing the way they felt in this era.…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the book entitled "Harlem Renaissance" by Nathan Irvin Huggins a story is told about the time period before World War I and the following years in which a "Black Metropolis" was created unlike the world had ever seen. It was the largest and by far the most important black community in the world. It brought together black intellectuals from all over the world to this new "Black Mecca" with dreams of prosperity and change. Their common goal was the prosperity of the New Negro as Alain Locke called them. This New Negro was one that was cultured, educated, artistic, and would bring prosperity to the African-American. All these were the promises of the Harlem Renaissance. I think that his thesis was in the opening sentence when he talks about Harlem. When people saw Harlem, they saw opportunity, they saw a place where they could escape and enjoy artistic freedom. They saw liberation, they saw hope, they saw a place where confidence was in abundance. That confidence translated to the belief that reform could be attained. Sadly, Nathan Irvin Huggins points out that all they were was deceived by their dream. They all saw in Harlem much more than what was really there. A common belief was that they could use their talents as a way of bridging the gap between the races. Unfortunately racism has been so deep rooted in the white American psyche that it would take more than the New Negro proving he had artistic talent to be accepted as one and the same. Huggins also cites that their art was compromised by the fact that it was intended for white patrons and was not a full reflection of them. Another mistake they made was not organizing a grass roots movement. The black political leaders failed to become a unified voting force and were unable to obtain true political power needed to bring about change.…

    • 1753 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    to kill a moking bird

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During this time period, racial discrimination against black people often creates disagreement. “She was white, and she tempted a negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man” (204). This has to do with man versus society because it says that it was unspoken to do what she did, to a black man. “’Do you defend niggers, Atticus?’ I asked him that evening. ‘Of…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During this disastrous time, McKay wrote his best works, including “If We Must Die”. This extraordinary poem displays and defends black rights. Poetry formed the center of the Harlem Renaissance. McKay’s writing included racial issues and the working class.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Harlem Renaissance was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity, spanning the 1920s and to the mid-1930s. While reading the article “Black Renaissance: A Brief History of the Concept” I learned that the Harlem Renaissance was once a debatable topic. Ernest J. Mitchell wrote the article, explaining how the term “Harlem Renaissance” did not originate in the era that it claims to describe. The movement “Harlem Renaissance” did not appear in print before 1940 and it only gained widespread appeal in the 1960s. During the four preceding decades, writers had mostly referred to it as “Negro Renaissance.”…

    • 105 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The African American culture has evolved since the 1930’s due to one basic reason which would be segregation, however history repeated self so many people can relate to how the common beliefs then. In some ways, despite what race you are there's always a group or several groups of people who highly distrust the government, which is how the Logan family felt in the novel. The Logan family had high hopes for mutual agreement with profits, but were constantly being mistreated or threatened into dealing with the wants of White people. In fact, in the story there neighbor is burned to death for not acknowledging the Whites wants and the officers look the other way and the white people are not persecuted. This caused a lack of trust and many can relate to the mistrust today because of the promises some presidents have…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ivory Spratley Ms. Lawton English III April 5, 2015 Poets and their literature play a major role in today’s society, including the poets and authors coming from places all over the world. America is filled with great poets and authors, from inspiring speeches to collections of novels. Authors from later years were very more clear and distinct with their literary works. As the famous poet and author Claude McKay says “If a man is not faithful to his own individuality, he cannot be loyal to anything.”…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Poetry– Claude McKay "If We Must Die" One of the most influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance was Jamaican born Claude McKay, who was a political activist, a novelist, an essayist and a poet. Claude McKay was aware of how to keep his name consistently in mainstream culture by writing for that audience. Although in McKay's arsenal he possessed powerful poems. The book that included such revolutionary poetry is Harlem Shadows. His 1922 book of poems, Harlem Shadows, Barros acknowledged that this poem was said by many to have inaugurated the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout McKay's writing career he used a lot of dialect and African American vernacular in his writing, which was rather controversial at the time. Writing in dialect wasn't considered proper for writing formal literature. For this paper I chose the poem "If We Must Die", one of his strongest political poem included in Harlem Shadows. The subject matter that McKay writes about is confrontational. Even if McKay used classical poetry techniques to write "If We Must Die". McKay used the poetry technique of the sonnet by using the 13 lines and 1 last line in the end. In "If We Must Die" McKay uses rhymes, and metaphors to associate and personify the poem. Using these techniques the audience can identify with the writer and the poem itself. The poem at first seems to have been written for a black audience but then it grew tremendously for a wider universal audience. This poem spoke to anyone and everyone who was being oppressed or in a situation that they weren't in control of. This poem was for anyone who is or was put to death. This poem showed that everyone deserves a noble death, a death of honor and respect not to be beaten and treated like an animal but like a human being. "If We Must Die" was first published in the Liberator in 1919. Then in his compilation of poetry Harlem Shadows in…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays