The setting is 1969 in the United States; a time when segregationist, separatist, and racist power plagues much of the South and African Americans as a whole. African Americans are treated as subhumans and lack the proper rights or protection to fight for their right to equality. Maya Angelou’s poem “Harlem Hopscotch” not only addresses the time period norms, but also, reveals the tensions that fuel either side of the civil rights movement. An analysis of Harlem Hopscotch reveals that the poem was created to symbolize the back and forth struggle between whites and blacks fiscally and legally, which is illustrated in the formatting and style of the poem as well as the historical context behind the words on the page.
The first thing to notice …show more content…
Angelou writes, “ In the air, now both feet down. Since you black, don 't stick around”(5-6). In this line Angelou is revealing the treatment of Blacks during this time period through this quote by creating the situation where a black individual shows up or enters and because the individual is black, then they must leave. This is important because she is using this poem to support the plea of African Americans to achieve equal rights. Another form of inequality Angelou talks about is wealth inequality between whites and blacks. Angelou writes “ Good things for the ones that got”(2), which touches on the wealth inequality between white and black communities. This is important because she uses Harlem, which was a predominantly black community at the time and also very poor, to show that everyone is fending or caring for himself or herself because there will be no one to help as everyone is on their …show more content…
As the poem comes to a close with the lines, “Both feet flat, the game is done. They think I lost. I think I won.”(HH), we see that that the outcome is dependent upon your personal well being, if you remain standing through the fire and the flames of racial injustice than you are considered a winner. This is important because at the end of that quote she is essentially saying that racism will linger on because white oppression is unwilling to acknowledge equal rights for blacks, but blacks have a feeling of pride that they won because of their fight for equality.
Considering the time period of the poem as you read through each line draws a picture in your mind about what exactly the setting was and also the mindset or mentality of black individuals facing oppression. In the title, Harlem is used to show how the segregation between the blacks and whites was unambiguous and the formatting of the text displayed the tension between each race. The conflict between whites and blacks was physical and mental, her purpose for writing was to encourage change and
The first thing to notice …show more content…
Angelou writes, “ In the air, now both feet down. Since you black, don 't stick around”(5-6). In this line Angelou is revealing the treatment of Blacks during this time period through this quote by creating the situation where a black individual shows up or enters and because the individual is black, then they must leave. This is important because she is using this poem to support the plea of African Americans to achieve equal rights. Another form of inequality Angelou talks about is wealth inequality between whites and blacks. Angelou writes “ Good things for the ones that got”(2), which touches on the wealth inequality between white and black communities. This is important because she uses Harlem, which was a predominantly black community at the time and also very poor, to show that everyone is fending or caring for himself or herself because there will be no one to help as everyone is on their …show more content…
As the poem comes to a close with the lines, “Both feet flat, the game is done. They think I lost. I think I won.”(HH), we see that that the outcome is dependent upon your personal well being, if you remain standing through the fire and the flames of racial injustice than you are considered a winner. This is important because at the end of that quote she is essentially saying that racism will linger on because white oppression is unwilling to acknowledge equal rights for blacks, but blacks have a feeling of pride that they won because of their fight for equality.
Considering the time period of the poem as you read through each line draws a picture in your mind about what exactly the setting was and also the mindset or mentality of black individuals facing oppression. In the title, Harlem is used to show how the segregation between the blacks and whites was unambiguous and the formatting of the text displayed the tension between each race. The conflict between whites and blacks was physical and mental, her purpose for writing was to encourage change and