Author: Posted Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013 9:21:16 AM EDT Edited Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013

9:21:16 AM EDT

Well I named this post "White Priority" because I wanted to talk about how the white man viewed the black man. I said, priority, because throughout the poem, I got the sense that the white guy felt like he was more privileged and of a higher priority than the black man. When you first start reading the poem, the white man talks about how the black man had a "cold" expression, the face of a "mugger". Right here it tells you that the white man didn't grow up in a hard neighbor hood were you had to look and be tough. If you take history, blacks had to fight for everything they had. Also, when the white man talks about how he has on a fur coat, and a brief case, and how the black man has a hooded jacket on, and old shoes. This also tells you the different statuses between them. It also said about how the black mans shoes were laced like scars of his body. I thought this line was interesting because this also further states how the black man had to fight for everything he had,. It also said something about cotton, this goes back to slavery. The white guy was better dressed, not as tough, and actually scared of the black man. He didn't grow up in hard times you can guess, so being alone with a black back then wasn't, I assume, enjoyable. What did everyone else think of this? Do you think my post makes any sense, and if so do you feel the white guy was more privileged and have a higher priority than the black man?
Author: Posted Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013 12:42:58 PM EDT Edited Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013 12:42:58 PM EDT

I agree with you. There is a clear division between these two men. Other than them being "male", that is the only thing that makes them alike in this poem. I also feel like the white man had a secluded, and inexperienced mind capacity. He judged this black man based on his outside exterior. There was nothing exchanged between these two men, yet the white man had the black man completely figured out. To the point where he was scared. I do feel like the white man felt like he was better because of his exterior clothing. He came across as arrogant and snobby. He assumes that this black man must almost envy him, and hate him because of how well he feels he's presented. He speaks about his fur like he's a walking dollar sign. He talks about power and how he feels when he looks at this black man. Then he goes on to assume what this man must be thinking when he looks at him. "Or if he is in my power, the way I am living off his life, eating the steak he does not eat, as if I am taking the food from his mouth." It's clear he assumes this man is nothing but poor and that he must be hostile. The white man in my opinion is plainly ignorant.
Author: Posted Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013 4:29:29 PM EDT Edited Date: Saturday, March 30, 2013 4:29:29 PM EDT

I don't believe that the white man was of any higher privilege than the black man but he sure felt it. Just because he was dressed better doesn't make him any better or anymore of a priority.

Author: Posted Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 10:54:01 AM EDT Edited Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 12:52:12 PM EDT

I do not find an implied priority given to the white character over the black character. These two humans are stuck in the same compartment of the same vehicle; they likely occupy a setting where segregation is a non-issue in a legal sense, the only privilege the white character has is an assumed relation of people affluent enough to give the white character access to a fur coat and briefcase. Also how would your post and the poem read if you take out every racial connotation? If you dont see racial connotations when theses identifiers are removed how does this poem allow you to make any conclusions about race? This poem makes more sense when you look at it from a viewpoint where a young man and an old women are stuck together rather than a white and black character.
Author: Posted Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 5:15:33 PM EDT Edited Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 5:15:33 PM EDT

When I read the lines,"His feet are huge, inblack sneakers/laced with white in a complex pattern like a/ set of intentional scars.", I thought the black sneakers represented African -Americans and the white laces are the scars caucassion's have caused.
Author: Posted Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 7:23:51 PM EDT Edited Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 7:23:51 PM EDT

YES. The most powerful lines that I noticed, and that go nicely with the points you made were 'there is no way of telling how easy this white skin make my life', and also the last line 'thrusting up into any available light'. It forces you to think about what kind of lives they have led before they got on the subway. It is not necessarily about their different personalities, but the opportunities they have been given or not. The mugger does not know life the way the white man does, and he cannot pass up any chance at survival even if it means taking from more privileged people.
Author: Posted Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 9:27:15 PM EDT Edited Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 9:27:15 PM EDT

I also think the most obvious point I saw coming from reading this poem was the severe outlooks of racism. We learned a lot about this particular white man's view on

this black sitting across from him, however I think his general thoughts described in this one instance foreshadows the general outlook whites had on blacks within these racist societies. He talks about fear of him being a mugger and even relates the color of his clothes to blood and negativity. Then he continues to describe how his clothes, his upbringing, and his social status are much higher than this black man, who he has never met before. This poem was short and focused on one situation of being on the subway with a black man from one white man's point of view. however I think all these emotions and immediate assumptions he has about the mystery man tells the reader a lot about how the general public viewed all blacks during this time.
Author Posted Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 9:29:53 PM EDT Edited Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013 9:29:53 PM EDT

I don't think it is right to assume that this man is a mugger. Yes in the poem, the white man assumes this man could kill him or steal from him but we don't know that. For all we know, this black man thinks nothing unusual about this white man. This poem was written over twenty years ago, but sadly these instances still happen today. We judge people by the way they look today. If someone has a lot of tattoos or piercings we see them as "edgy" and sometimes even potentially dangerous. Even if it isn't always a racism thing, this still happens.