There are several people in the world who believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities have equal opportunities in life. However, this clearly isn’t true as there are some ethnicities who are more privileged than others. Racial privilege is a huge issue for society, and it is unfortunately based on the physical appearance of a person. The wide variety of appearances in society creates degrading stereotypes between cultures and discriminates people from one another. People with pale skin are clearly more privileged as they have more opportunities and freedom in life, while people with darker skin lack opportunities and seem to suffer more. However, there are people who have noticed this problem, and Kevin Coval is one of them.
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The narrator asks a group of four young Mexican men, who call themselves the Kings, where he can find a drink. The young men then tell the narrator about who runs the streets and a few gang affiliations in the neighborhood. The narrator and the Kings essentially bond together, but there is an eerie feeling that suggests their bond will not last. The narrator realizes that he has some sort of protection in society as he says “i stroll anywhere / anytime” (Coval, 28-29). His white skin creates a barrier between the young men and gives him an unfair advantage over them in society. Kevin Coval’s poem, “white on the block,” uses clever diction and vivid imagery to address the issue of racial …show more content…
The young Mexican men are stuck living in the gang infested ghetto with a limited amount of opportunities to escape. They are surrounded by several gangs, and they have to do whatever it takes to survive. The men are stuck “moving white and weed” (25) and are “trapped in the trap” (25) just to endure the life they have. They are dealing drugs such as cocaine and weed in a specific place usually called a Trap house, and the house can also be looked at as a double entendre. The Trap house is the place where the Kings are selling drugs, and it also represents how they are trapped in the ghetto. Coval then suggests that the young Mexican men grew up in the ghetto as they “made the steps a school room” (21). Everything they learned was by living in the ‘hood. They knew the neighborhood block by block and every rivalry by heart. The Kings were taught by the streets, and they had nowhere else to go. The ghetto was basically the Kings’ school. However, it was a very hostile school. Although the young men were taught by the ghetto, the neighborhood was more of a sentence to the penitentiary as the Kings were “locked into a prison / block” (26-27). Coval continues to play with words with these lines. It basically implies that the young men are locked in a prison cell, and it also implies how the ‘hood is a metaphor for a prison since block is another way to say neighborhood. The young
The narrator asks a group of four young Mexican men, who call themselves the Kings, where he can find a drink. The young men then tell the narrator about who runs the streets and a few gang affiliations in the neighborhood. The narrator and the Kings essentially bond together, but there is an eerie feeling that suggests their bond will not last. The narrator realizes that he has some sort of protection in society as he says “i stroll anywhere / anytime” (Coval, 28-29). His white skin creates a barrier between the young men and gives him an unfair advantage over them in society. Kevin Coval’s poem, “white on the block,” uses clever diction and vivid imagery to address the issue of racial …show more content…
The young Mexican men are stuck living in the gang infested ghetto with a limited amount of opportunities to escape. They are surrounded by several gangs, and they have to do whatever it takes to survive. The men are stuck “moving white and weed” (25) and are “trapped in the trap” (25) just to endure the life they have. They are dealing drugs such as cocaine and weed in a specific place usually called a Trap house, and the house can also be looked at as a double entendre. The Trap house is the place where the Kings are selling drugs, and it also represents how they are trapped in the ghetto. Coval then suggests that the young Mexican men grew up in the ghetto as they “made the steps a school room” (21). Everything they learned was by living in the ‘hood. They knew the neighborhood block by block and every rivalry by heart. The Kings were taught by the streets, and they had nowhere else to go. The ghetto was basically the Kings’ school. However, it was a very hostile school. Although the young men were taught by the ghetto, the neighborhood was more of a sentence to the penitentiary as the Kings were “locked into a prison / block” (26-27). Coval continues to play with words with these lines. It basically implies that the young men are locked in a prison cell, and it also implies how the ‘hood is a metaphor for a prison since block is another way to say neighborhood. The young