Antonio Fernandez

Antonio Fernandez                                                                                                                7-29-14

            Martin Espada is the poet for the three poems "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson," "New Bathroom Policy at New English High School," and "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California May 3, 1877." These poems make the reader think about racism, abuse of power, and discrimination. Espada does this by referring to real life situations.

            The poem "The New Bathroom Policy at New English High School" makes the reader think about abuse of power. For example, the principal in the poem decided to ban Spanish from the bathrooms because he heard his name and this made him afraid. By taking away the Spanish language he took away the student's voice. This teaches us as readers that there are people in the world that may not be able to speak for themselves and we have to help them.

            In Espada's poem "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson" the reader is asked to think about racism. We think about racism because in the text it says "Whenever my name is mispronounced…I want to…highjack a busload of…tourists." The speaker of the poem says this because he had a fantasy of what he would do if people kept mispronouncing his name and some people may not think it's a big deal but it is, because your name represents your culture. This teaches us that there is racism in the world still.

            In Espada's poem "Two Mexicanos" the reader is asked to think about discrimination. We think about discrimination because in the text it says "Forty gringo vigilantes cheered the rope that snapped two Mexicanos." He describes the lynching.  The thing that bothered Espada the most is what he writes about in the last stanza, "Remain the faces of the lynching party."  They gathered each other so they can take a picture in celebration and they were all smiling. This teaches us that the gringos got away with discrimination because if they were to do that a white person they would be in trouble because the law didn't care about the Latinos.

            In conclusion, Espada makes the reader think about racism, abuse of power, and discrimination. It makes us think about other people who can't stand up for themselves.