People
To those fixed on white,
White is white,
To those fixed on black,
It is the same,
And red is red,
Yellow, yellow-
Surely there are such sights
In the many colored world,
Or in the mind.
The strange thing is that
These people never see themselves
Or you, or me.
Are they not in their minds?
Are we not in the world?
This is a curious blindness
For those that are color blind.
What queer beliefs
That men who believe in sights
Disbelieve in seers.
O people, if you but used
Your other eyes
You would see beings. -Jean Toomer
Analysis:
This poem is a great work that tries to tackle the issue of racism. This poem also uses parallel stricture. It talks about how people see the color of skin and not the person behind the skin. The poem questions the people who do that and questions there beliefs.
This poem is even relevant today. If people could not see color, would there be racists? The poem seems to question that as well. I believe that people who are racist, are blind to peoples character and only care about there color. Racism will only disappear if people look at character and not color.
To those fixed on white,
White is white,
To those fixed on black,
It is the same,
And red is red,
Yellow, yellow-
Surely there are such sights
In the many colored world,
Or in the mind.
The strange thing is that
These people never see themselves
Or you, or me.
Are they not in their minds?
Are we not in the world?
This is a curious blindness
For those that are color blind.
What queer beliefs
That men who believe in sights
Disbelieve in seers.
O people, if you but used
Your other eyes
You would see beings. -Jean Toomer
Analysis:
This poem is a great work that tries to tackle the issue of racism. This poem also uses parallel stricture. It talks about how people see the color of skin and not the person behind the skin. The poem questions the people who do that and questions there beliefs.
This poem is even relevant today. If people could not see color, would there be racists? The poem seems to question that as well. I believe that people who are racist, are blind to peoples character and only care about there color. Racism will only disappear if people look at character and not color.