Tran 1

Brandon Tran
English 161
Essay #1: Mckay’s “America”

The world is diverse, it is filled many types of cultures and races. However, in relation to
diversity, there is naivety. Everyone grows up discovering new cultures, we are never taught in
school what is correct and what isn’t when it comes to one culture compared to another. This is
because this all happens from experience. Some people may be judged, and others may be
praised for being different; the simple idea that changes this is where people might be naïve.
When people can understand and be taught about the way another person lives due to their
culture, it completely changes how they might react to it. They might, at first, mock or be
amazed by what they see. Though, if educated by their ideas and values, they can come to
appreciate how different they are or not see other ideas as weird but instead, different and even
creative. However, experiences for minorities or other people who deliver these cultures can be
tough, when it comes to living in a different country especially.

The poem “America” by Claudie McKay can show us this. McKay tells us the experience of a
black man, using metaphors and personification within poetry to display to us how he grew up in
the United States. Before tying McKay’s poem together to his experience, we need to understand
where he comes from. According to poetryfoundation.org, McKay was born in the 1920s during
the Harlem Renaissance. He often talked about his experiences coming from Jamaica. The
bibliography states that “His work ranged from vernacular verse celebrating peasant life in
Jamaica to poems challenging white authority in America, and from generally straightforward
tales of black life in both Jamaica and America to more philosophically ambitious fiction
addressing instinctual/intellectual duality, which McKay found central to the black individual’s
efforts to cope in a racist society” (Poetry Foundation). Here, Poetry Foundation discusses how
many of McKay’s works talk about his life as a black man in America and how he overcame the
obstacles that related to it. This is where a great example of this can be seen in his work
“America”.

In the poem “America”, McKay discusses what he appreciates and has a tough time dealing with.
Within the first few lines, McKay is displaying to us his feelings of contempt and appreciation
for America. McKay’s first lines are “Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, and sinks into
my throat her tiger’s tooth” (McKay, “America”). McKay is showing to us his first time in
America and what his experience was. He uses words like “bitterness” and “sinks” as a way of
showing how he had to face racism in the country he was not used to. However, McKay uses
personification by referring to America as “her”. As McKay is using personification, he can
make the experience and relation towards America livelier, because he is using words to describe
America as if it were a person. This then creates a better atmosphere for imagery. America is his
dependence even if it gave him harsh experiences of racism and prejudice.

Next, McKay continues to say, “Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell
that tests my youth” (McKay, “America). Here, McKay is using a metaphor to show how
America has emptied the life out of him. He is constantly tired and frustrated by the experiences
that he faces throughout his life that he must deal with. However, these experiences test his
youth. His mixed feelings show to us that he has a love and hate relationship for America,
 Tran 2

somewhat like a lover. The use of personification towards America becomes significant
throughout the poem in many ways.

Continuing, McKay’s next lines are “Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, giving me
strength erect against her hate” (McKay, “America”). In these lines, McKay talks about how
America somehow gives him strength that both keeps him going but also pushes him down. This
is what makes America special to McKay. This is because America is his driving force and his
source to his struggle but also what has caused it. McKay struggles in America but America is
what keeps him moving forward in all the hate he faces.

McKay goes on to say “Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in
state, I stand within her walls with not a shred, of terror, malice, not a word of jeer” (McKay,
“America”). McKay was possibly expressing the independence of one person standing against
America alone. Though as McKay is alone in America, it does not make it impossible for him to
take that stand. Also, nothing good normally comes for a rebel that takes a stand before a king,
which is the metaphor he is making as he stands before America. McKay is not only standing
alone, but he is showing confidence. He stands within America with all the pride he can have.
McKay ends the poem with the lines, “Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, and see her might and
granite wonders there, beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand, like priceless treasures sinking
in the sand” (McKay, “America”). Expressed as a metaphor, McKay talks about what he looks at
in the future ahead of him and see what he might have to deal with eventually, and ends with a
simile.

Overall, McKay is talking about his history and his time in America. His experiences make him
stronger and how he acknowledges the he will see more in the future. McKay asserts himself as
he is alone and what he goes through by himself. Though for the time in the poem, he loves and
deeply struggles with what America gives to him. McKay’s powerful combination of
personification, metaphors, and diction give meaning to the lines that he shows to us.

McKay’s experiences overall are much like mine, I relate to him as I struggle being a minority as
well. The struggles as a minority were also seen in my parents. I was born in the United States as
a Vietnamese American. My parents were both born in and immigrated from Vietnam.

My father at the age of eight fled Vietnam during the war and grew up as part of an American.
However, the struggles were still evident while he was living in America, he lost his dad while in
Vietnam at the age of three and had the grow up with a single parent, being his mother, and had
to learn English as a second language. Some kids would not want to hang out with him for being
different and having a hard time to communicate with them.

My mother, came to America at a much later age of 23. My grandfather had been captured by the
Northern Vietnamese during the Vietnam war and jailed for nine years. After serving his time in
jail, he, along with his family, were able to flee and come to America. My mother had different
but very similar struggles, she worked in a sewing factory that paid her below the minimum
wage and had harsh labor conditions.
 Tran 3

My parents would tell me the stories of their struggles while being in America, their struggles
had dealt more with poverty however their background also had an effect in their lives. My
father went to the same high school that I did, and he was one of the only minorities growing up.
He started to experience diversity and how big the world was when he entered college. He met
friends that just like him and who were also different in terms of backgrounds. My mother
sacrificed the option and choice of going to college in America to provide for my grandparents.
She experienced how diverse and different America was when she met my father. In many ways,
my parents had the similar personified experience that McKay did. Where America was the
problem yet also the solution for them, or simply, their love/hate relationship for America like
McKay had.

Along with the end of McKay’s poem, my parents did not see what was instore for them in the
future and they were not positive of it. However, what they could be sure of is that times can get
better, so they were able to push through them just as McKay did. They were able to find a stable
job that provided them the financial living they needed. However, for all our lives, we have
grown up in such a small town that everyone knows who we are and what background we come
from as we are one of a kind.

Also, just as McKay had, my parents believed that America was their strength as it was pushing
them down as well. They believe that America was their strength because they both traveled with
each of their families to a land of opportunities. They believe that their worst experiences in
America are better than if they lived their lives in Vietnam. My parents had the flee the Vietnam
war and the violence that was happening over there. They pushed through their struggles and
now, they are comfortable and happy where they are.

I was able to learn about my family's origins from the stories of my parents and their culture. I
attended yearly family events that related to celebrating what my heritage was all about such as
Vietnamese New Year. Family reunions were hosted where my relatives got together and talked
about their origins and how us, as a family, can all share our differences.

Another one of the experiences that McKay mentioned that I related to the most is where he talks
about how he is alone in America as he deals with his racial struggles. I believe that many
minorities deal with this problem as well because of how different they are from everyone else. I
had to this a lot and being alone as I grew up. One of my main struggles while growing up was
being the only Vietnamese American in my school. I was never exposed to a wide variety of
cultures because of how small my school was. I had never traveled to Vietnam or had any clubs
and activities in my school that related to my ethnicity. I would be mistaken for another ethnicity
or be called names because of my race.

To overcome this barrier, just as my parents once did, I visited Garden Grove, California last
summer with my family, one of the most Vietnamese American cities in the United States.
Within Garden Grove, I visited Little Saigon, an area that provides the traditions of Vietnamese
culture, where I learned about the origins of my ethnicity. Coming to Garden Grove, California
made me realize how there are some places in the United States that are minority majority. I saw
what I can be proud of and how my Vietnamese heritage influenced the United States through
their culture of food, clothing, and language. It was incredible to see what ways my heritage has
 Tran 4

educated a country that 40 years ago, never knew about who we were. Another vacation I took in
the past was Hawaii, I visited Honolulu and walked around the city to do sightseeing. I looked
around on the streets are saw how diverse Hawaii is.

However, being in Washington, there are some other places that richly share different cultures,
like Chinatown in Seattle. My parents always traveled to Chinatown for shopping when we had
the chance to come to Seattle. I eventually looked passed these struggles to ignore the names I
got, and I decided to educate those who would try to bully me, because educating someone can
change their perspective and their mind in many ways. I believe that people can change when it
comes to struggles of how they see you. Times from McKay’s to now have clearly changed.
Where now, racism is a lot less evident in this life than before.

I believe that schools and other public places have influenced this a lot. In my high school and
previous schools, they have cultural clubs that help teach others about what types of cultures
there are and what they have to offer. My high school has also reinforced racial bullying and
does not tolerate it. This shows how as you grow up, your struggles and experience towards
racism is reduced by itself by how people in today’s times come to accept what is new and
become interested to learn about them when it comes to different cultures.

I joined a culture club that my high school had to see what it was about and what they had to
offer. I was glad to join it because I learn a lot about where different people in my school come
from what they had to share. One person came from an Arabian background and talked about she
grew up and another person was Chinese and talked about how he is an exchange student
studying in the United States. I was amazed by what types of people were in this club as my high
school is small and is not extremely diverse. We did projects in this club to promote cultures and
put posters around the school about different cultures, so students can get an idea about what
cultures are all about. I believe that projects like this one help reduce racial experiences that
students have.

Within my cultural unity club, we also helped set up assembles within the Performing Arts
Center to raise awareness against racial bullying and stereotypes. There was a guest speaker who
came in with a one-hour presentation. He talked about different races and what stereotypes they
had. He then set posters all around the walls with specific races on them and said, “Write down
the first thing that comes to your mind when you see these”. People wrote all kinds of
stereotypical and offensive names, since there wasn’t a filter on what you can and cannot write.
He then talked about what he was seeing and how it becomes seen as the normal thing to call
other races certain names but really, it is not okay and related to racial bullying. I believe that
this event was one of the best I have seen at our school because it helps open the minds of people
who might not understand a person, they seem to judge books by their covers when they call
students who are minorities, names. After this presentation, my school has seen a large amount
of foreign exchange students for people who regularly go to school already to learn about them
and who they are.
 Tran 5

Since I was a minority in my high school, I didn’t really have anyone to share my struggles with,
I mainly shared my struggles with my family. My parents, siblings and cousins were all people
who helped listen to what I had to speak on my mind when it came to racial problems. My
parents listened to me as they faced harsher experiences and gave me advice needed to get
through the times. My siblings and cousins listened to my experiences and would relate as they
are also minorities in school and told me similar events that they had to deal with.

However, for myself, I hoped that the future would be better growing up and it had been so as I
thought. I remembered another story that my friend from Japan told me about. I went to Japan
for ten days with my high school class and was able to learn different mindsets and experiences
while being there. This experience was so interesting to me because I realized that racial struggle
doesn’t only happen within America, but all around the world. My friend went to a boys-only
school and just about everyone was Japanese. Though, there was a student who was an American
student. He talked to me about how some people would mock him for being different. However,
he was still about to make friends in this school because some people loved how different he
was. We can see how racial experiences can be half and half. Where, some people might mock
someone because they don’t quite understand them, and others may want to learn about their
cultures. These two mindsets can be completely different and often separates people from others.
Luckily as this person had friends, we can see that if this was in McKay’s times, this person
would have had a harder time making friends has it was not normal and very strange if interracial
friendships were developed.

In reflection to what I saw from McKay’s poems, it is interesting how similar experiences are
still seen today compared to his time. Racial experiences are similar in how they are seen.
Though, they are dealt with different. Today’s time makes racial experiences more prominent to
prevent them from happening, however, there are more things that lead to it being stopped all
together, such as gender identity. As these problems are often involved with racial bullying. We
can see how these factors are associated with it in today’s time. It is possible that within
McKay’s times, these factors aren’t involved as racial stereotyping, name calling, and bullying
are all things that are normal against people with McKay’s skin color (black).

As we reflect to McKay’s poem “America”, many experiences in my life and experiences in my

parents’ lives had connections to this poem. We first see how McKay at first faces struggles and
then, how he deals with them and gets through these times. Racial experiences can be a relation
in today’s time and still has a large effect on many people, especially when they are minorities or
come from a family who are minorities. Therefore, this poem was one of my favorites to read so
far.
 Tran 6

Works Cited

“Claude McKay.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2017, Web. 9 Nov. 2017
www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/claude-mckay

Levine, Robert S. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed., W.W. Norton &
Company, 2017