Oodgeroo Poem
Section I:
The texts “Son of Mine” a poem by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Other Word’s “Jim Crow Alabama” a graphic sketch by Khalil Bendib both explore conflicting perspectives in relation to racism. Noonuccal’s purpose is to respond to her son’s questioning of the racism he is subjected to, “My son, your troubled eyes search mine…” her views conflict within the text as she expresses two views, one of how white people treated Indigenous Australians and on how she as an Indigenous mother adopts a positive perspective with a view to a complementary change. Other Word’s “Jim Crow Alabama” observes how though the Jim Crow laws have been abolished they have in the illustrator’s view in fact returned in another form, this time discriminating against immigrants.
The form in which Oodgeroo Noonuccal writes her poem impacts the text by distinctly separating the conflicting views. The poem is composed of three stanzas, all quatrains the first relates to how she understands her son’s worries. The second is of the negative side of white people’s treatment, and finally the third completely conflicts with the second quatrain by showing the positive optimistic view she has, “…lives of black and white entwine”.
The Other Word’s image clearly differentiates views by using two sketches, one from 1963, when Jim Crow laws were originally implemented and one from 2011 where “new anti-immigrant laws” replicate Jim Crow laws expressed through the medium of illustration reflecting the perspective of many that things don’t change, the status quo remains the same.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal embodies her negative perspectives by using dark terms such as “rape”, “murder” and “hatred blind”. She repeatedly uses the term “I could tell you” which signifies that she prefers the optimistic view and this is the belief she prefers her son to see. When Noonuccal states “black and white entwine” she uses juxtaposition in the terms black and white however the term entwine shows the strong link between the
The texts “Son of Mine” a poem by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Other Word’s “Jim Crow Alabama” a graphic sketch by Khalil Bendib both explore conflicting perspectives in relation to racism. Noonuccal’s purpose is to respond to her son’s questioning of the racism he is subjected to, “My son, your troubled eyes search mine…” her views conflict within the text as she expresses two views, one of how white people treated Indigenous Australians and on how she as an Indigenous mother adopts a positive perspective with a view to a complementary change. Other Word’s “Jim Crow Alabama” observes how though the Jim Crow laws have been abolished they have in the illustrator’s view in fact returned in another form, this time discriminating against immigrants.
The form in which Oodgeroo Noonuccal writes her poem impacts the text by distinctly separating the conflicting views. The poem is composed of three stanzas, all quatrains the first relates to how she understands her son’s worries. The second is of the negative side of white people’s treatment, and finally the third completely conflicts with the second quatrain by showing the positive optimistic view she has, “…lives of black and white entwine”.
The Other Word’s image clearly differentiates views by using two sketches, one from 1963, when Jim Crow laws were originally implemented and one from 2011 where “new anti-immigrant laws” replicate Jim Crow laws expressed through the medium of illustration reflecting the perspective of many that things don’t change, the status quo remains the same.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal embodies her negative perspectives by using dark terms such as “rape”, “murder” and “hatred blind”. She repeatedly uses the term “I could tell you” which signifies that she prefers the optimistic view and this is the belief she prefers her son to see. When Noonuccal states “black and white entwine” she uses juxtaposition in the terms black and white however the term entwine shows the strong link between the