Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IS IT BECAUSE I AM BLACK? by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER JR.

First Line: WHY DO MEN SMILE WHEN I SPEAK
Last Line: IS IT BECAUSE I AM BLACK?
Subject(s): AFRICAN AMERICANS; NEGROES; AMERICAN BLACKS;

Why do men smile when I speak,
And call my speech
The whimperings of a babe
That cries but knows not what it wants?
Is it because I am black?

Why do men sneer when I arise
And stand in their councils,
And look them eye to eye,
And speak their tongue?
Is it because I am black?



Home: PoetryExplorer.net