Comparison Of Landlord And Ballad Of Roosevelt
Voices Essay Chapter 15: entries 7 and 8 Catherine Jones D Block The two Langston Hughes poems "Ballad of Roosevelt" and "Ballad of Landlord" embody the outcry from the downtrodden African-American community during the Great Depression. "Ballad of Roosevelt" shows how poor the majority could be, and the basic needs that they were forced to go without while awaiting public aid that never seemed to come. In "Ballad of Landlord" the narrator opens by asking for better living conditions, and ends up serving a term in the County Jail. The unfortunate truth in "Ballad of Roosevelt" is that the trust that the narrator starts out with vanishes by the fifth stanza when "Pa said, I'm tired/ O' waitin' on Roosevelt,/ Damn tired O'
waitin' on Roosevelt." From that point on, Langston Hughes' poem presents the widespread disbelief in the President within the African American community. It shows a belief that the President had either forgotten the problems that they were faced with, or did not bother to reach out and grant them promised aid. It is interesting, however, to note the measures that President Roosevelt had taken to attempt to rectify racial separation in the economy that left African Americans coming up short. African Americans fared well under Roosevelt's New Deal Programs. Unfortunately, however, there is truth in Langston Hughes' references to African Americans not having the ability to gain jobs in the booming pre-war and wartime industrial boom. Eventually black Americans in the 1940s refused to accept a segregated military or lack of access by blacks to government jobs in the war industries. The African-American leader A. Philip Randolph threatened in 1941 to lead 50,000 blacks in a non-violent "March on Washington D.C." to secure fair employment in the war industries. President Franklin Roosevelt responded by opening the defense industries to equal employment, monitored by the Fair Employment Practices Agency. "Ballad of the Landlord" presents an even more apparent and unfortunate truth. "Ballad of the Landlord" is mainly a commentary on the cruelly biased and unfair treatment that awaited African Americans who stood up to their oppressors. After being threatened with eviction, the man calls his landlord's bluff and defends himself. As a result, the landlord simply has to make his tenant appear to be a threat to America ("Police! Police! / Come and get this man! / He's trying to ruin the government / And overturn the land!"). The tenant, a man who started out asking for a patched roof and mended steps becomes a criminal in the public eye. He is easily oppressed because of the widespread prejudice and is far less likely to be believed because of his race, whereas his accuser most likely is not. African Americans of the time were singled out as easy targets and often manipulated in similar situations. After years of being tricked out of their votes and living in fear of lynching, public treatment of African Americans was slow to improve. Thankfully, groups like the KKK were decreasing through the 1940s as its many of its members were revealed to support Nazi groups as well. Langston Hughes, along with many other talented writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance greatly helped spread awareness of the unjust treatment of African Americans of the time. By doing this, he joined the scores of Americans that fought for and inspired generations of Americans not to accept the shackles that society bonded them in because of their ethnicity.
waitin' on Roosevelt." From that point on, Langston Hughes' poem presents the widespread disbelief in the President within the African American community. It shows a belief that the President had either forgotten the problems that they were faced with, or did not bother to reach out and grant them promised aid. It is interesting, however, to note the measures that President Roosevelt had taken to attempt to rectify racial separation in the economy that left African Americans coming up short. African Americans fared well under Roosevelt's New Deal Programs. Unfortunately, however, there is truth in Langston Hughes' references to African Americans not having the ability to gain jobs in the booming pre-war and wartime industrial boom. Eventually black Americans in the 1940s refused to accept a segregated military or lack of access by blacks to government jobs in the war industries. The African-American leader A. Philip Randolph threatened in 1941 to lead 50,000 blacks in a non-violent "March on Washington D.C." to secure fair employment in the war industries. President Franklin Roosevelt responded by opening the defense industries to equal employment, monitored by the Fair Employment Practices Agency. "Ballad of the Landlord" presents an even more apparent and unfortunate truth. "Ballad of the Landlord" is mainly a commentary on the cruelly biased and unfair treatment that awaited African Americans who stood up to their oppressors. After being threatened with eviction, the man calls his landlord's bluff and defends himself. As a result, the landlord simply has to make his tenant appear to be a threat to America ("Police! Police! / Come and get this man! / He's trying to ruin the government / And overturn the land!"). The tenant, a man who started out asking for a patched roof and mended steps becomes a criminal in the public eye. He is easily oppressed because of the widespread prejudice and is far less likely to be believed because of his race, whereas his accuser most likely is not. African Americans of the time were singled out as easy targets and often manipulated in similar situations. After years of being tricked out of their votes and living in fear of lynching, public treatment of African Americans was slow to improve. Thankfully, groups like the KKK were decreasing through the 1940s as its many of its members were revealed to support Nazi groups as well. Langston Hughes, along with many other talented writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance greatly helped spread awareness of the unjust treatment of African Americans of the time. By doing this, he joined the scores of Americans that fought for and inspired generations of Americans not to accept the shackles that society bonded them in because of their ethnicity.