The Literary Piece: Phyllis Wheatley's Poetry "On Being Carried from Africa to America"
The literary piece to be explored in this article is Phyllis Wheatley's poetry "On Being Carried from Africa to America." The project will be linked to critical race theory. Phyllis Wheatley was the first African-American female in the United States to publish a poetry book. She was able to escape being shipped as a slave from Africa to America. In the late 1700s, Phyllis was adopted by the Wheatley family, where she learned to read Greek and Latin (Richmond 65).
Phyllis Wheatley's Struggle in America
In America, everything was wrong for Phyllis because she thought that she was in a mistaken country, different race, and unique gender for her to do literary work. No one in America believed that a slave could write any literary work, but Phyllis amazed everyone where she published her first book of poems in 1773 (Richmond 65). Most of Phyllis's poems address Christianity, but the poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a short verse that is focused on slavery in the United States (Shields 34).
Critical Race Theory and Phyllis Wheatley's Addressing of Slavery and Racism
Critical race theory provides a significant assessment of race and racism from a lawful point of view. This piece of work will provide an analysis of instances in which Phyllis Wheatley has addressed slavery and racism in her poem using the critical race approach. Some scholars have criticized Phyllis Wheatley for failing to address slavery and racism in her literary work. Most of her work addresses Christianity and avoids talking about slavery or racism due to different reasons such as her gender (Richmond 66).
Slavery and Racism in Early American Literary Work
The development of critical race theory spread to various disciplines, and many authors, including Phyllis, were able to address the issue of slavery and discrimination in the United States of America. Slavery was a key issue in early American literary work since it affected many people in the country. The great African-American slavery trade led to high enslavement in the nation where inhabitants were kidnapped from Africa to America for labor without pay (Richmond 78). Most authors of literary work who existed in the 1700s were white people who did nothing on slavery and racism given that those issues were not affecting them directly (Richmond 69). Even African-American authors such as Phyllis Wheatley were afraid of talking about the two main issues that were affecting black people because oppression at this period was regarded as lawful by the administration.
Racism in the United States of America
The critical race theory identifies that racism is engrained in the system and fabric of the United States society. Racism is so dominant in the US due to the white supremacy and privilege that leads to the marginalization of people of color (Delgado and Stefancic 78). Any law of a country is defined to be colorblind and neutral to all people, but this does not apply to the interaction of individuals with varying colors of the skin. The critical race theory, therefore, challenges the legal truth behind the definition of law through an examination of meritocracy and liberalism as a vehicle for power, self-interest, and privilege (Delgado and Stefancic 83). In her poem, Phyllis Wheatley feels that she is in the wrong country, has a mistaken career, and her gender is strange (Richmond 65). She states that "some view our sable race with the scornful eye," implying that in America, black people were regarded as inferior. The black citizens were described as less capable people, and they would not be given a chance to develop their lives. They were submitted to slavery where they would work in white lands and homes without pay. Hence, the black were the slaves while the whites were the masters, meaning that different races were regarded to have varying capabilities. The whites did not respect black people because Phyllis indicates that the rulers viewed African-Americans with a scornful eye (Richmond 65).
Racism and Religion
From Phyllis' poem, the issue of racism extends to Christianity where she regards Africans as pagans. She states, "'Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land" (Shields 34). The statement is meant to describe white-Americans who brought her from Africa through the slave trade. The African race was regarded to be very inferior to the extent that black people were known not to believe in any religion. The white people who lived in America were the only people who had beliefs about religion, God, and a Savior (Shields 34). Phyllis was very lucky to have arrived in America at the tender age of 7 years; hence she survived slavery. The owner of the ship she was transported on from Africa to America named her Phyllis, which was the name of the vessel. The author was adopted by the Wheatley family, and there she got her second name. The series of events made Phyllis appreciate religion so much that she dedicated most of her life from the age of 14 years writing religious poems (Shields 34). She started believing in religion just like white people. The author was fighting racism in America through literary work such as poems by writing literature that criticized discrimination. Phyllis learned several languages such as Greek and Latin to enable her to address the literary work to all races (Shields 34).
Privilege and Discrimination in the United States
Further, the critical race theory describes the white population as a privileged group of people since they have a myriad of social benefits, advantages, and courtesies that come as a result of being a member of this dominant race in the US. In public facilities today, the whites are offered all their rights fully, and they are normally the first people to get services simply because of their race (Raengo 63). On the other hand, African-Americans are discriminated wherever they go, in public places, schools, hospitals, among other places, simply because the color of their skin is regarded as inferior. The good careers in the past were only meant for white people, while black individuals would work as assistants. Such kind of discrimination in the workplace is a clear indication of the presence of slavery and racism. Phyllis, in her poem, argued that "the color of white people is a diabolic die," implying that whites are superior to blacks (Richmond 65).
Multidimensionality of Discrimination
Various sections make up critical race theory, a direct approach to the multidimensionality of discriminations, as well as identifying that there are other factors apart from race that account for disempowerment. The approach recognizes race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality as the overall factors that lead to social discrimination (Delgado and Stefancic 78). In Phyllis' poem, all factors considered by critical race theory are evident. The issue of race comes out very clearly when the author states that "Their color is a diabolic die," implying that the color of African people is inferior, while that of whites is superior (Richmond 65). The gender factor is portrayed in the overall early American literary work, given that Phyllis was the first African-American woman to publish a book consisting of poems. As the first black female artist, Phyllis avoided addressing slavery and racism but kept on assessing Christianity in her literary work (Raengo 123). The author did not have the courage to address such immorality in the United States due to her gender. Further, the issue of nationality is addressed in the poem. The author says that she was glad to be transported from Africa where all people were pagans to America, where she appreciated the presence of religion, God, and a Savior (Richmond 65).
Conclusion: Contributions to Combating Oppression
Conclusively, the assumptions and values addressed by the critical race theory can be used in the critique of "On being brought from Africa to America" poem by Phyllis Wheatley. The theory of critical race requires authors of literary work to address the issues of racism, sex, nationality, and sexual orientation so as to assist in combating oppressions in society. Phyllis was able to address all four issues in her poem, though she concentrated more on Christianity. The black people have been regarded as inferior and non-believers of religion, but the whites are described as superior in all matters. Phyllis was brought from slavery where she did not believe in any religion to America and converted to Christianity. The author learned several languages to be able to write literary work that could reach various races. The main theme of her work was Christianity and criticism of racism in the US. The writer of the poem can then be said to have contributed in some way in combating oppression in the United States, as required by the critical race theory.
Works Cited
Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. Critical race theory: the cutting edge. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013. Print.
Raengo, Alessandra. Critical race theory and Bamboozled. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Print.
Richmond, M A. Phillis Wheatley: Poet. New York,: Chelsea House, an imprint of Infobase Learning, 2014. Print.
Shields, John C. Phillis Wheatley, and the Romantics. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2012. Print.
