When Will We be Hand in Hand?

 

 In recent times, the Black Lives Matter movement has been brought to the forefront of the news - but, that does not mean that this issue of racism is new to society. With this being said, a number of the texts throughout the semester have highlighted the issue of racism and the way in which society viewed some individuals as superior to others, solely based upon their race as opposed to their intellect or inner person. A major example of this being the works presented by poet Langston Hughes, especially his piece entitled, 'Harlem Night Club'. This piece, for instance, highlights that this sole setting, a night club, appears to be the only place in which racial barriers seem to be blurred - those of all races and backgrounds come to be one. For instance, the text reads, "White girls' eyes call gay black boys" [...] "Dark brown girls in blond men's arms" (Hughes, Lines 6-7, 10-11). With this being said, Hughes piece was written in 1926 - nearly 100 years ago - and can still be viewed as relevant today. 

Sadly, the implementations of racism are still wholly present in our society. Thus, causing a number of influential figures in popular culture to use their platform to educate the masses on their stance. For example, Childish Gambino released a song entitled "This is America" in 2018. This song highlights the sad truth that Black Americans are still viewed as the subordinate race, solely for the color of their skin. Gambino's lyrics paired with the music video are extremely powerful in that they expose the faults of American society and all the ways in which our country still has yet to improve from Hughes' day. On a similar note, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar collaborated in 2016 to create a song entitled, "Freedom". This song, similar to that of Childish Gambino, highlights the continual shortcomings of society in treating all individuals equally.