poverty, stereotypes, abuse, etc.

I was really disturbed by Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “Merle ‘Uncle Seagram.’” We’ve read a lot up to this point about the injustices and abuses that blacks have faced, but this one disturbed me more than the others. It’s always troubling to hear of any crime of a sexual nature being perpetrated against children, but for a child to be harmed or inappropriately touched by a family member that’s supposed to care for them makes the behavior that much worse. The family appears to fit into the stereotype of a larger, impoverished black family, and the alcohol abuse adds to that stereotype. I guess I don’t really have anything else to say about this. It was just disturbing, but really, it was straightforward enough that I have nothing else to contribute.

I think the preceding poem, “Ulysses ‘Religion,’” also illustrates some effects of a likely impoverished lifestyle. It’s another stereotype—the poor, black kid bringing weapons to school—but it makes me think of self-fulfilling prophecies and missed opportunities. These kids go to school, spurn the knowledge their teachers try to impart on them, and go home at the end of the day, returning to the same situation they left that morning; there’s no improvement, and no foreseeable change.