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English 1110 Secondary Source Integration

Although , “400 Years” appears to solely be a poem about Black folks’ suffering at the hands of white people for the past four hundred years, it is actually about the deep division among Black and white Americans in our society and how this division can be simply be explained by the symbolism each group attributes the American flag.

“400 Years” is a poem written by 22-year-ld Micaiah Wheeler. It was published on December 23, 2016 on HelloPoetry.com. It is a 40 line, 8 stanza poem. The poem paints a picture of Black American’s struggles for freedom over the past four centuries. The first stanza introduces the problem the poem seeks to address – that ( white ) America has consistently promised freedom to Black Americans, but “just for a small fee.” The poem continues on about how Black Americans have been paying the fee through blood, sweat, and tears; they have had to watch their people bleed and die. The speaker does not feel that the American flag represents him nor does he feel that he and his people have ever been considered equal to white Americans. It has been 400 years, Black Americans have fought for the United States, but white America still does not recognize their rights. The sixth stanza functions as the speaker’s own call to action, he will not be told how to act and he will fight for his freedom until the grave. The speaker then calls out white America for pleading ignorance to the problems at hand, he lists the names of Emmit Till, Trayvon Martin, and Freddie Gray. He criticizes white America for first taking their lives and then for trying to forget about the past. But, the Black American community cannot forget about the past, they carry with them the scars of those who came centuries before them. The speaker ends the poem by explaining that freedom is not given out freely, but he still believes that he will one day be able to see all races and nations in harmony with one another .

The speaker, who is presumably a Black American because of details referring to slavery and a black mother, has chosen second person for the poem’s point of view . He refers to America as “you” and then uses first person singular pronouns, such as “I” and “me,” to apply to himself and first person plural pronouns, such as “we” and “our,” to refer to the collective group of Black Americans. This is significant because the reader is aware that the speaker does not feel as if he is a part of what the widely-accepted thought or view of America is. The word “America” is freighted with meaning. In general, “America” is associated with liberty, freedom, democracy, equality, and rights. However, the speaker has chosen for the word “America” to refer strictly to white Americans, white Americans that have liberty, freedom, equality, and rights, who have all of the things that “America” usually means. The speaker, being Black, therefore, does not identify himself nor the entire Black community as being a part of this America. In the poem Wheeler says, “We carried your rifles, we lifted your flag, and still you were snide,” making the central point that although many Blacks have fought for the United States, they still do not have all of the privileges and rights that should come with being an American . The word “America” thus is freighted with a meaning much different in the poem from that which is commonly held true. Here, “America” is equated with tyranny, oppression, slavery, and the caste system. This contradistinction allows the text of the poem to work against the current of the commonly accepted notion of “America” held by white America . The speaker is able to challenge the white America’s view by employing pathos. The rhetoric used encourages the reader to feel sympathy for Black Americans by implicitly stating that they are disconnected from “American” society and their fundamental rights have been forgotten. The usage of the pronoun “you” works to make a white reader feel personally guilty for bringing on this disunited feeling even though it has been the result of centuries of white supremacy and injustice.

In his article written for The FADER, a New York-based music magazine, on September 19, 2016, Kiese Laymon, a Black American, discusses what the American flag symbolizes for him. Laymon discusses how white supremacy and black suffering are stitched into the fabric of each American flag. For him and other Black Americans, the flag is a reminder of pain and agony that Black people have experienced from white Americans who have consistently and cowardly hid behind the flag. In the beginning of the article, Laymon describes the flag that hangs outside of his house in Oxford, Mississippi, “the blue bleeds purple; the red fades pink; and the white wants desperately to be the color of banana pudding,” he continues by saying that there are two big rips at the top and another rip at the bottom, and it barely blows in the wind (“What I Pledge”). At the end he says that his flag looks like what every other American flag should, “ beat down, bleeding, fading, weak, tearing apart, barely held together, absolutely stanky, and self-aware” (“What I Pledge”) Laymon also claims that his forefathers knew that they came to America to provide for the economic wants of white folks. But, he then switches his pronoun from “they” to “we” and further reveals, “We knew we were not brought here to be equally protected under the law” (“What I Pledge”).

Laymon’s switch of pronouns supports my initial analysis from “400 Years” on the division of America today as a result of racial tensions. His ancestors were not equally protected in white America, and still today, he himself does not equate himself with white America just as the speaker of the poem. However, in applying this article’s symbolism of the American flag, the division presented in the poem can be looked at from a new angle. The disunited feeling that is created by the use of different pronouns to refer to “America” and the speaker and the Black community, is supported throughout the poem by the speaker providing specific details about the division, including the line “The flags that represent you, makes you free. But the same flags that represent you, doesn’t represent me. The flag that represents words that say “all men are created equal ” considered me an animal and there seemed to never be a sequel” (“400 Years”). Just as the word “America” is freighted with meaning, the Flag of the United States is also freighted with meaning. For many people, the American flag is a reminder of what America’s forefathers fought for; it is a symbol of the country’s strength and unity. But for many others the flag represents injustice, discrimination, and domination of an institution, the institution of white America, as the speaker of the poem and Laymon’s article suggests. In our society today, there is not strictly a division of feelings among Americans, but a division that runs through everything in American society; it is a division interwoven into the very flag that is supposed to represent equality.

Dave Desilet ’s article, “The American Flag Is a Symbol of Patriotism and Unity” was viewed from Opposing Viewpoints in Context . However, the article was originally published in June, 2002 in All Hands, the official magazine of the United States’ Navy. Desilet claims that the American flag symbolizes freedom, valor, hope and unity. During moments when our country faces hardship and adversity, the flag has been a sign of hope and courage, a symbol of pride and democracy. The flag has continually been “cried upon, sung to, prayed under and embraced as the common emblem this melting pot of a country ;” the American flag is a symbol all Americans share and it is a symbol that unites us all (“The American Flag” ). Desliet also states that during times of peace, we, as Americans , should we become content and we most certainly should not let our solidarity subside.

The claims that Desilet makes in his article, push back against the speaker’s feelings in “400 Years”. All military personnel are supposed to give the upmost respect for the American flag. So, being first published in a military magazine, this article is going to naturally be supportive of the flag and attribute positive feelings, such as freedom and unity, to the flag. However, this also allows for a new lens for which to look at the poem. The feelings expressed by Desilet towards the flag are most likely felt by many white Americans who have never experienced oppression in their own country like Black Americans. The poem brings up events from the past and reveals how the majority of white Americans look at these events and how Black Americans look at the same events very differently. It states, “To you slavery was yesterday and we should shout free at last?/To you the last police shooting was last week, we shouldn’t riot, it’s in the past,/…but we can’t shake the scars from centuries in a caste” (“400 Years”). The text confronts white America for wanting to forget about events and move forward without addressing them. The speaker of the poem suggests that Black America however does not easily forget, for them the past is part of their very being. It is not as easy for Black Americans to just pick up the flag with a sense of unity, as Desilet suggests in his article, as it is for the other America who has not experienced its injustice.

These two articles push back against each other. Laymon’s article clearly articulates that there is a problem in our society today, that can be explained by looking at the American flag. He makes the point of saying that the flag represents the oppression that Black Americans have suffered from at the hands of whites, since they first came to America, supporting the claims made by Wheeler in “400 Years”. Although Desilet would probably be willing to agree with Laymon and Wheeler that white oppression has been a major problem in American history , he would probably disagree with the idea that the American flag in our society today is or should be a symbol of white domination and supremacy. Instead, he would point to all of the Black Americans that have bravely fought for our country, risking or sacrificing their lives, so that we could have the rights and freedoms that America’s founding fathers worked for. These two articles also push back against each other over the idea of disunity in America . Although it is true that currently American society is very divided today like Laymon and Wheeler explain, Desilet also makes an equally valid point that in order to fight tyranny and terrorism around the world we must present a united front.

Our nation’s symbols are very important and prominent in our American society today. And the meaning for many of these symbols lies in the eyes of the beholder. Thus, the symbolism one attributes to the American flag depends on who is looking at it as well. The flag itself is not a language, rather Americans use language to devote meaning to the flag. For those who have never directly experienced America’s racism or oppression, the sight of the flag as a sign of unity, hope, and freedom. But for those who have had to deal with institutional white America’s dominance and racism, the American flag represents the complete opposite, it is a symbol of discord, hate and inequality.

In times when our nation faces immense adversity or terrorism, such as the 9/11 attacks, the American flag can be found flying or draped over almost anything. So why is it that in times when the United States faces terrorism or adversity from foreign nations, we are taught to look to the flag for hope and unity, when in our country in this very moment, the flag is the very symbol that is dividing us? It is clear, that members of the Black American community are victims of state violence within our own nation . It has been communicated through their movement that they do not feel that they have the same rights as white Americans. Thus, it should not be expected that they honor a piece of fabric that they feel does not represent their freedom and rights. At various Black Lives Matter rallies, American flags have been burned by protestors, illustrating that, to them, the American flag does not represent equality and rights, but domination and white supremacy. Athletes have also demonstrated this, as well as their support for the Black Lives Matter Movement, by refusing to stand for the National Anthem and honor the flag. Many times, these demonstrations are met with scorn from the media and many from the general public. These conflicting emotions that are felt among members of our society today are causing a division, especially a division among races. But, how people look at this division depends solely on how much significance they place on the flag .

Grace,

You have set yourself up well for the rest of the semester with this thorough secondary source analysis. You have started with a thoughtful analysis of your artifact, added highly detailed descriptions of your secondary source’s arguments, did some effective work applying those arguments to your analysis of the artifact, and then begun a very interesting analytical move by looking at how the meaning of the flag is in the eye of the beholder. As you move forward to address with your rough draft, I suggest you focus on the following:

Adding evidence (quotes) from the poem to your opening description.
Teasing out clarification around some of the questions I pose in the margins.
Bringing your “meaning is in the eye of the beholder” analysis at the end, back around to how it affects you analysis of the artifact.

We can talk more about these things in your conference. Nice work here!

You earned an A (100) on your Secondary Source Integration, plus 3 points extra credit for formulating and identifying 3 evolving thesis statements about your artifact. (I will add your 3 points to a previous assignment because Carmen won’t let me give you a 103!)

Works Cited

Desilets, Dave. "The American Flag Is a Symbol of Patriotism and Unity." Is It Unpatriotic to

Criticize One's Country?, edited by Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press, 2005. At Issue.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010354207/OVIC?u=colu44332&xid=d792c9cf.

Accessed 7 Mar. 2017. Originally published as "Does Your Flag Still Wave?" All Hands,

June 2002, p. 48.

Laymon, Kiese. “What I Pledge Allegiance To.” The FADER, The FADER, 19 Sept. 2016,

www.thefader.com/2016/09/19/my-mississippi-pledge-kiese-laymon. Accessed 3 Mar.

2017.

Wheeler, Micaiah. “400 Years.” HelloPoetry.com, Hello Poetry, 28 Dec. 2016,

hellopoetry.com/poem/1840196/400-years/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2017.