The Speaker acts as a collective voice for African Americans experiencing systemic oppression and racial discrimination. Adopting a calm, stoic detachment, the Speaker observes current injustices without surrendering to despair or issuing a militant call to arms. The Speaker maintains a steadfast secular faith that the current state of inequality is temporary and that the patient cultivation of their own culture and freedom will eventually bear fruit.

Representing the architects and beneficiaries of systemic racism, this group exploits the labor and subjugates the lives of Black people. The poem refers to them as "lesser men" who undervalue their fellow human beings and demand constant servitude, whether through physical labor or musical entertainment. They maintain their dominance through cunning and cruelty, forcing marginalized people to bend to their will.