Journal 11# The so-called "justification"

Reading Pauline E. Hopkins’ “As the Lord Lives, He Is One of Our Mother’s Child” and Claude McKay’s poems, brings to mind the question of how is it possible for the majority of the whites to feel so justified in their barbaric treatment towards the blacks.

In Pauline E. Hopkins work, we learn how it is deemed agreeable for the whites to partake in an act of lynching when they aren’t even a hundred percent sure that the person they have decided to strip off the life from, is definitely the culprit behind the crime. In fact, the entire story seems ridiculous, and at the ending, are we, the readers supposed to feel any sense of happiness that finally “Jones and Gentleman Jim were publicly exonerated by a repentant community” (250). The entire presentation of the supposedly “repentant community” (250) does not seem the slightest bit sincere, and it is absurd that only after the needless and innocent death of Jones, that they finally realized they had been targeting the wrong people all along.

In “If We Must Die” by McKay, the poem highlights how the white men are like “murderous cowardly pack” (14). It connotes the idea of how the whites wrongfully kill people and only possesses the courage and strength to do so, when they are the majority. This can be seen, as firstly, the whites are not even certain of the validity of their actions. Secondly, they are afraid of the possibility of the blacks overthrowing their powers one day, or that the situation may turn nasty in the midst of them condemning the blacks for a crime that they did not commit.

The manner in which the whites portray this image of being righteous and legitimized in their actions, just serves to highlight the bravery and strength of the blacks, as evident in Gentleman Jim who refuses to “be taken alive” (248). We applaud the bravery of the blacks that are capable of making the best out of the reduced circumstances they are thrown into. This is aptly illustrated in the manner in which “The Harlem Dancer” is able to sing and “danced on gracefully and calm” (5), despite the fact that “her self was not in that strange place” (14).

This injustice thus only serves to portray the whites in a negative light, while celebrating the heroism of the blacks, who try their best to ensure they die a noble death.