Carrender 1

Daniel Carrender

Mr. Pressley

ENG 112

31 January 2024

Racism, Death, and Equality: An Analysis of “Theme for English B” and “The Tradition”

Since the dawn of man, there have always been members of one group imposing their

will and restricting the freedom of the members of the other. Whether it was Neanderthals and

Homosapiens, Romans and Jews, or Whites and African Americans, racism has always been a

part of human history, and unfortunately, we are not much different today. Langston Hughes and

Jericho Brown, two award-winning African American poets, wrote some beautiful poems

exposing the struggle for equality among African Americans both in the past and the present. In

"Theme for English B," Langston Hughes describes his experience with racism in the South and

details that he is more similar than different to his white professor. Similarly, in "The Tradition,"

Jericho Brown talks about the near-constant oppression African Americans have faced in modern

society; ironically, he conveys these themes by using the imagery of flowers. While these two

poems are very similar, they show different forms of oppression in the US. Both poems show the

covert and overt forms of oppression, and even though America has made significant progress

for racial equality, racial prejudice is still a constant struggle for many Americans today.

In "Theme for English B," Langston Hughes uses the allegory of an unnamed narrator

and an introspective writing assignment to detail real-life experiences with racism in America. In

the poem, the narrator is tasked by his white professor to write a paper about himself and to "let

that page come out of you" (Hughes, line 4). However, being a young man, the narrator struggles

to identify who he is, so instead, he focuses on his race. He opens the poem by mentioning how
 Carrender 2

he lived in the South before moving to Harlem, which, given that this poem was written in 1951,

clearly shows the narrator's first-hand experience with segregation. He then describes where he is

currently going to school, where, ironically, he is the only African American student in his class

even though the school is on the hill overlooking Harlem. He then writes about some of his

interests, but these are generic interests that everyone has, and he acknowledges that by saying,

"I guess being colored doesn't make me not like the same things other folks like who are other

races" (25,26). He finishes the poem by stating that even though he is of a different race than the

professor, that is not what matters, and they both are a part of each other not because of their race

but because they are human. Even though this poem is about racism in late '40s America, Hughes

does not write with a hateful tone; in fact, "Theme for English B" and many other of his literary

works are written with a very candid tone that both acknowledges the differences between the

races as well as exemplifies how similarly they are. This tone shows a very peaceful and hopeful

view of the future of America and that Hughes only wanted to gain equality through acceptance,

not fear.

Similarly, "The Tradition" by Jericho Brown is a metaphorical telling of the current and

past struggles to overcome racism in America. "The Tradition" is a beautifully written poem

despite its dark subject matter; it accomplishes this by using the imagery of flowers and nature to

describe the struggle of African Americans in the US. He starts the poem by reciting the names

of three flowers, "Aster. Nasturtium. Delphinium" (Jericho, line 1). These flowers each

symbolize an aspect of the African American community: an aster flower symbolizes wisdom, a

nasturtium symbolizes victory in struggle, and a delphinium symbolizes being big-hearted.

Flowers remain a constant theme throughout this poem. However, this line, in particular, is

significant because it is later echoed in the last line of the poem; except the names of the flowers
 Carrender 3

are replaced with the names of African American youths who were gunned down unjustly by

police. Brown then continues by describing how those in power have manipulated the African

American community into thinking that they are equal despite how they are treated. He describes

these people in power as classical philosophers to symbolize how much influence they have on

the thoughts of their people. This section ends with another flower, a star gazer. A stargazer lily

is symbolic of innocence; this shows that those in power manipulated the African American

community because of their innocence. This is immediately followed up with "Summer seemed

to bloom against the will of the sun" (5,6). This time, the people in power and the media are

portrayed as a blazing sun trying to suppress the flowers of activism. However, despite media

censorship and mental manipulation, the flowers still bloom. However, these flowers are not

long-lived, and the fear of death is constant for those who fought for equality. Brown mentions

filming themselves and their effort to prove that they existed. The poem ends with the lines "Too

late, sped the video to see blossoms brought in seconds, colors you expect in poems where the

world ends, everything cut down. John Crawford. Eric Garner. Mike Brown." (11-14). These

lines detail the futility of the fight against the system as well as emphasizes that it is too late for

those who have already been made victims. The last line echoes the first with the names of three

African American youths who were gunned down under pretenses. This poem is incredibly

beautiful and dark at the same time and shows the more subtle form racism has taken in today's

society; instead of open segregation, we get censorship and manipulation.

Both “Theme for English B” and “The Tradition” are genuinely excellent poems despite

their depressive themes. However, since they were written almost seventy years apart, they both

describe different forms of racism in America. "Theme for English B" describes overt racism and

segregation in '50s America, whereas "The Tradition" describes very subtle or covert racism in
 Carrender 4

modern America. While both poems are amazing on their own, looking at them in tandem shows

a fuller story of what they are trying to describe. This is highly apparent because of the authors'

different writing styles and tones; Hughes writes with a very candid tone and a very literal

writing style, whereas Brown writes with a very symbolic writing style and a very despairing

tone. However, that is where the significant differences end; both poems use an unnamed

narrator to convey their message; reading both, you can tell that the authors are passionate about

this topic, and both detail a deep yearning for equality and freedom. Although these both show

that there is still racism in America, it can not be ignored that, as a whole, our society has made

significant leaps when it comes to racial equality. We are far from perfect, and it only takes a few

to harm others, but there has been substantial progress within that seventy-year gap between

these poems.

Langston Hughes and Jericho Brown are both spectacular writers who deserve the awards

they received for their writing; these two poems are only a tiny piece of everything they have

accomplished. Furthermore, even though these are not the happiest poems, they are still beautiful

and truly worth reading, both for their similarities and differences. They both genuinely show

that racism is still a problem for America, and you can not possibly attempt to fix a problem if

you do not know there is one.

 Carrender 5

Works Cited

Brown, Jericho. “The Tradition by Jericho Brown - Poems | Academy of American Poets.”

Poets.org, https://poets.org/poem/tradition. Accessed 7 February 2024.

Hughes, Langston, et al. “Theme for English B by Langston Hughes.” Poetry Foundation,

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47880/theme-for-english-b. Accessed 7

February 2024.