If We Must Die Mckay

Racism had always been a problem in certain parts of the United States around the 1930s, but that sparked many movements, one especially was the Harlem Renaissance. In the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay uses key phrases to show how colored people are being treated during the time of the Harlem Renaissance and how they should be able to overcome the racism and violence because he himself was colored and experienced some of the racism himself and was able to stand strong against it.
One of the ideas being addressed is how colored people are being treated during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. The author was able to show this idea since he wrote this in the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. An example of the idea being shown is
While McKay wrote this, he was able to witness racism firsthand and able to write about his experience he saw in his own way. An example of how the African Americans are dealing with the racism is “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!”(McKay). The quote is saying how the African Americans are facing all the racism and even if they might not be winning the fight, they’re still trying their hardest against it all. The African Americans know how bad it is, and yet they’re trying to fight it all off.
To summarize, the message that’s being brought out by both ideas is that no matter what you mean to other people, always think of yourself as equally as them. Colored people were always treated with disrespect and they eventually overcame all the violence and racism that was being directed towards them in the Harlem Renaissance. The message is important because the Harlem Renaissance was a big movement to help the cause of racial inequality. Without the Harlem Renaissance, many things would most likely be very different to this