Migration by Langston Hughes.

Migration by Langston Hughes.

 From subtle discrimination in everyday life to the killing of people of colour, racial discrimination exists in many forms and remains deeply rooted in Western Culture. The poem, Migration, by Langston Hughes, paints a picture of a coloured child moving to a different school in the north. He paints a picture of the boy’s experience in a school with white children. The discrimination initially, is from the white children, but later on, he experiences the same from the coloured children. The poem divulges the issue of racial discrimination, even with small children in schools. Racism against people of colour requires attention because people of colour, including children, experience the most racism propagated by people of the same colour and those of different races.

Movement of people from place to place can only be limited to a certain extent. People are bound to move into new neighbourhoods, and their families adapt to the change. Adults have a better understanding of racial discrimination while children may be confused at first. Schools are places for social interaction and the formation of character. From a young age, children form relationships with their classmates to make them feel comfortable and loved. They may not recognize the differences in their being even though they later determine these relationships. They retreat from interaction with children from different races as a result of fear of discrimination and insults. The change of environment causes white children to sense invasion or threats to their social and power establishment. Their reaction is discrimination of the perceived danger.

Children are expressive in their interactions. They have no problem calling things out for what they see. They acknowledge the differences existing in their makeup and social construction. In a time when the rules favour the white people, they had the freedom to call coloured people “nigger”. The use of the term extended to all contexts, from slavery to common human to human interaction. Children picked up the use of this term and were not afraid to use it. It was a norm to them anyway. In the poem, Langston writes that “they finally taunt him and call him “nigger” (Hughes, lines 6-7). This statement shows the early adoption and possibly the following propagation of racially motivated statements and names. What children learn in their early developmental years sticks to them like a leech to skin. It forms for them a baseline for their future interactions. It is likely that a white child who discriminated a coloured child, does the same in their adult years.

Racism knows no age and knows no boundaries. People express their dislike for people of colour as early as in their childhood. It is fair to say that children learn racism from their parents. Initial interaction of two children from different races may not result in a discriminative pointing out of their differences. Parents of white children may interfere and instil in their children fear, and ill stemmed claims to keep their children from coloured children. It is not a surprise to see people of colour showing the same discrimination to their fellows. People of colour have from time to time propagated racially motivated acts. Resulting from the internalization of racism, people of colour have an unconscious contempt for their race. As Langston Hughes writes in his poem, “The coloured children hate him too after a while” (Hughes, lines 8-10). The children have internalized the racial difference and have settled in a comfortable position. They associate this position with superiority and immunity to real racism. New people coming into the ecosystem go through the system as though they were different from those already existing. It is evident in the obvious discrimination and differentiation of African Americans and Native Africans.

Expression and calling out of racism against people of colour make it a well-known crisis. Racism against Jews, people of Indian descent and Native Americans have been an issue known very well to people. People of colour, however, have been very expressive of the effects of racism. There are holidays set to celebrate the liberation of their people from slavery, socially sanctioned rules against using racial terms and slurs and other cushions against racism have increased the knowledge of the subject matter. People of colour have time after time explained to white people the weight that small slurs and racial discrimination have and the potential damage they cause. In writing of poems and making of movies explaining the heft of racism, it is clear that the damage caused by discrimination is colossal.

How far back can one trace racism? Racism can be traced back to centuries when colour consciousness fueled ancient civilizations of nations worldwide. People in different nations recognized the differences in the colour of their counterparts. Inferior races were associated with primitivity and uncivilization. Racism against people of colour was no exception. They were deemed inferior and could not contribute to society other than in slavery. The name ‘nigger’ in the past was the norm. New age racism is different. People of colour have proved themselves in society and have attained wealth and class surpassing that of their white counterparts. The old-age racism grounds cannot hold weight today. Today, using the word ‘nigger’ is not approved. White and Asian people have submitted to the social rules of not using the word. White people and Asians have, however, found loopholes and propagated new discrimination grounds. They associate people of colour and even children with specific socially identified misfortunes and use these to preach their racial agenda. They proceed to call people of colour’ niggers’ and refuse to acknowledge racism. The instability and constant change in society’s norms is fuel to the fire of racism.

Racial discrimination needs even more recognition by the detrimental emotional and physical problems it causes. The taunting slurs and discouraging exclusion from the majority result in emotional baggage and fright. Children get scared to go to school or to interact with their mates. Some even go to extents of physically assaulting people of different races. Authorities often downplay the assaults. The makeup of the authorities largely includes members of the presumed superior race who have the same ideology as that of the racists. Without the blanket protection of the law, people of colour continue to experience and tolerate racism.

Discrimination of people of colour is a continuous conversation because no day goes by without victimization of a person of colour based on their race. The racism conversation is rarely tolerated but is far from quiet. “Concerning this little frightened child, one might make a story charting tomorrow’ (Hughes, lines 14-17). The statement shows the possibility of a conversation about the fright of the little child. A conversation about his experience in a world that discriminates him because of his colour. The racism puzzle is far from being solved, and people are ready to speak and write about their experiences.

The term racism rings as a war between coloured and white people. People of colour, however, fight prejudice from both White and Asian people. People of colour are discriminated and belittled anywhere they go. It accounts for the fame that discrimination against people of colour has gained over time. Calling out obvious acts of racism is easy. Implicit acts of racism, however, may be misunderstood and sometimes ignored. Without acknowledging acts of racism, racist people get away with it and are likely to show the same treatment to other people. The belittling of people of colour is irrefutable. They are constantly compared to animals and treated the same. Hughes constantly refers to the boy in the poem as little. He writes ‘a little southern child, a little dark boy, a little frightened child. The writer shows how white people hold coloured children and people of colour by low standards. They expect very little from them. To the white and Asian people as well as the people of colour, this warrants their acts of racism.

Racism for people of colour is not a new tale. They are in a constant fight to assert their value and position in society. The perceived superiority of other races is a major contribution to racism against people of colour. People of colour and their children alike experience a lot of racially motivated acts propagated by their fellow people of colour and people of white and Asian descent. The heft of racism is a shock felt in all facets of society. There is, therefore, a need for serious considerations and adjustments that curtail continued spread of racism and its effects.

Works Cited.

Hughes, Langston, et al. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. Knopf, 2007. p 36