21 pages • 42 minutes read
dear white america
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Themes
SayHerName Politics
The #SayHerName political and social movement highlights the Black women who have been killed as a result of police brutality and anti-Black violence at large. While the movement was created to highlight the gender-specific ways in which Black women are disproportionately affected by fatal acts of racial injustice, the act of saying the names of victims has been employed to make space for all victims of racial injustice. This is commonly seen in the form of literally saying (shouting) names of those killed at the hands of the police in protests and in other demonstrations. The idea not only creates space for victims but also helps to personalize something that for some people (i.e., those outside of the Black community) can feel intangible.
This theme is present throughout Smith’s poem; they list Renisha, Chucky, Bo, Meech, Trayvon, Sean, and Jonylah. Later in the poem, we’re given the list Jordan, Emmet, Huey P., and Martin. Both lists highlight people—men and women—whose died from police violence and/or anti-Black violence. Smith’s thematic treatment of politics here gives readers specific and concrete examples of racial injustice and police brutality. By merely including their first names, Smith creates an increased feeling of intimacy and closeness, thus raising the stakes of their deaths. And in not specifically citing their stories or even their last names, Smith puts the onus on white America to do the work. It is not Smith’s job to teach these horrors; instead, white America must learn on its own. The literary device of listing appears in the poem many times; it finds a space in #SayHerName politics and is a popular literary device throughout literature to emphasize importance.
The American Legacy of Slavery
“dear white america” grapples with the American legacy of slavery. Smith weaves this thematic element throughout the poem with intricacy and attention to craft; each time a thread appears finished, for instance, it returns to remind readers that this history of enslavement is inescapable. Through repetition and consistency, the poem actually enacts the remembrance that Smith wants readers to engage in when confronting the theme.
For some white Americans, slavery is a thing of the past. It is learned about in history textbooks and is thought of as being antiquated. Present-day discourse in the US, largely from white, Conservative Americans, even goes as far as suggesting that learning about slavery, as part of Critical Race Theory, should no longer be taught in schools. This type of uninformed thinking suggests that the past is the past, and that enslavement is somehow not a foundational part of—or an “unfortunate” blip in—America’s history.
What Smith does in this poem is remind the reader that history informs the present. Thus, slavery is America’s legacy, America’s inheritance. As discussed in the analysis, Smith does this in referencing slave ships; “we did not build your boats (though we did leave a trail of kin to guide us home)” (Lines 10-11). And Smith continues on to invoke Black labor and the physical building of America; “we did not build your prisons (though we did & we fill them too)” (Lines 11-12). Through remembrance, Smith proves to the reader that the history of slavery is still present today; it is due to unpaid forced labor that this country stands, and yet this country still continues to imprison Black Americans through carceral punishment—what many argue amounts to modern-day slavery. This then foregrounds the injustices the poem continues to explore. Because slavery is at the root of America’s foundation, the poplar tree, police brutality, and other racial injustices are all tied to slavery (see Symbols & Motifs). Smith even invokes the history of slavery in such subtle ways as word choice. The reader is constantly reminded that this brutal and violent history is every present and inescapable.
Separation of Church and State (or The Lack Thereof…)
Another thematic idea central to America’s foundation and thus this poem is the concept of separating church and state. In the 20th century, the 14th amendment applied the establishment clause with the intention to separate religion from the government. This separation is a philosophic concept that defines political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Smith invokes this concept in the poem to highlight the hypocrisy (and potentially, the failing) of white America.
Early in the poem, Smith writes, “I do not trust the God you have given us” (Lines 2-3). The “you” here refers to white America. Smith demonstrates that white America has chosen a God for them; i.e., the state is in control of God, and God serves white America. God and white America are closely linked, especially given Christianity’s link to slavery in the US and abroad. Some slaveholders, for instance, routinely used specific passages from the Bible to reinforce slavery and the social hierarchy that stemmed from it. (What Smith’s poem doesn’t address much is the prevalence of Black Americans who, despite slavery’s abuse of Christianity, uphold a Christian God. There are also Black evangelicals like Esau McCaulley who, through Christian apologetics, seek to disentangle and “reclaim” the Christian God from its conservative, white evangelical pedestal and interpret the Bible as a lesson in hope for the modern-day Black community.)
The recklessness of the law, which included (and still does) police, the prison system, disenfranchisement, and other systemic issues resulting from slavery and warped by what is largely a misinterpretation of scripture, is at their hands, and thus Smith underwrites the hypocrisy of America. By the end of the poem, when the speaker has left Earth, there is a sense that they are now extra-terrestrial, even holy. In search of finding a new land for their community to thrive, they’ve replaced the ruling forces (God, the state) with their own power.
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