Mild K.

11-01

May 26, 2017

The mind of an African American poet

Slavery was common for thousands of years, and though it was abolished, some people

distinguished them from society, just because of their skin colour. Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African

American poet, had a desire to uplift his race through writing. He was born in 1872, Ohio, United

States, and died of tuberculosis in 1904. He was raised by his widowed mother. Both of his parents

were former slaves, and his father served in Massachusetts regiment during the Civil War. Although

he had never been enslaved before, he had a lot of contacts with those who had been. He showed an

outstanding academic performance, especially in writing, ever since he was young. After graduating

from school, he got rejected from many companies due to his race, and was finally employed as an

elevator operator which offered him time to write. James Newton Matthews and James Whitcomb

Riley were impressed by his work; therefore helped support him until his work was published and

eventually earned lots of fame. His poems, Ode to Ethiopia and The Colored Soldiers, are

dedicated to honour black people. Paul Laurence Dunbar explores the inequality of black people in

his poems by using first person point of view, real life events, and a sympathetic mood.

To express the inequality black people have encountered, Dunbar uses first person point of

view in his poems. Ode to Ethiopia was written in 1896, the same year as when the Ethiopians

defeated the Italians in the first Italo-Ethiopian War. Ethiopia has a long history of slavery. Some of

them have never experienced what freedom actually is before. Owing to their victory over the

Italians, he believes that the new era of Ethiopia, with the rise of equality as well as prosperity, is

starting. They will get every right that belongs to them, and the truth that they are as equal to white

people will be accepted by everyone. He also expresses that what white people have done to them is

too savage to be forgiven. Dunbar shows his insight of the feeling of being enslaved in the fourth

line and the fifth line of the poem, I know the pangs which thou didst feel, / When slavery crushed
thee with its heel, (Dunbar, 1896). White people treated them as if they are not humans and viewed

them as objects that dont deserve respect. He knows its really painful since he experiences similar

things in his life as well. Not only does Dunbar use first person point of view in his poems, but also

real life events.

Dunbar makes use of real life events in his poems in order to reveal the inequality black

people experience. The Colored Soldier was written regarding to the bravery of black soldiers in

the Union Army who fight during American Civil War. At the beginning of the war, they arent

allowed to fight because white people thought the fight is theirs. However, the wars intense and

there are a number of deaths. The Union troops are going to lose; therefore, Abraham Lincoln

incorporates them into the army to increase manpower. Though black soldiers know that the war is

dangerous and brutal, they believe that this war is a battle which at the end will bring them freedom,

hence they fight courageously alongside with white soldiers. Both of them undergo a considerable

number of dreadful situations, nevertheless, the blacks are usually treated more poorly due to their

races. Dunbar mentions one of the events, the Fort Pillow Massacre, which a number of the Union

troops, mostly black soldiers, are massacred after attempting to surrender to the Confederate side,

And at Pillow! God have mercy / On the deeds committed there, (Dunbar, 1913). Despite the fact

that there are both black and white soldiers in the Union side, the Confederate side chooses to

eliminate only the black soldiers. It reveals that black peoples rights are more likely to be violated

than those of the whites. In addition to using real life events, Dunbar tries to generate a sympathetic

mood in his work.

Dunbar shows black peoples inequality by creating a sympathetic mood in his poems. In

The Colored Soldiers, Dunbar indicates that black people are desperate for freedom. Not until the

Civil War do black people start to gain their hopes about being free. They used to be slaves, yet this

battle offers them an opportunity to change their lives forever. No matter how cruel the war is, they

never stop fighting until they triumph over their enemies. They lose a lot of blood and lives in
exchange for their freedom. Notwithstanding their intention to fight, they encounter discrimination

in various forms. Many black soldiers perform great sacrifices, nonetheless they arent recognised.

What is left is their virtues that will stay for eternity. Dunbar raises an undeniable fact about the

similarities between black soldiers and white soldiers, They have slept and marched and suffered /

Neath the same skies as you, (Dunbar, 1913) to create a sympathetic mood in his poem. Both of

them have been through the same war, suffered the same way, and had common foes, still people

view them differently. Dunbar implies that even their commitments, they arent recognised as equal

to white people.

The use of first person point of view, real life events, and a sympathetic mood is found in

Paul Laurence Dunbars poems in order to explore black peoples inequality. Dunbar reveals his

understanding toward slaves feeling in Ode to Ethiopia by applying first person point of view. A

real life event, the Fort Pillow Massacre, occurs in The Colored Soldiers to show the violation of

black peoples rights due to their races. Furthermore, a sympathetic mood is built throughout The

Colored Soldier to convey that black people arent acknowledged as much as white people, even

though they have committed such honourable deeds. No men ever forget the values of their races,

so does Dunbar. He dedicated his life creating literary works, in a hope that one day his works can

raise his race.