Double Duty

Looking back to the time I wrote “Negro Hero”, I see many instances in today’s society where this poem still fits. This holds true for not only African Americans, but other people who are still considered the “underdog” in society today. I wrote about the plight of the black soldier in my poem. He was fighting a war against not only one enemy, but two. The black man was side by side fighting the enemy with his white soldiers at his side. These white soldiers may have been physically by his side, but that is as far as it went. The black soldier was fighting for his right to be considered an equal soldier in this war. Black and white were fighting for the same cause, the same people. Yet the black soldier was fighting a double war. This was a personal war he had fought for years for freedom, equality, and respect. Although he was no longer a slave and given the opportunity to serve his country, he was still not an equal to the white soldiers he served alongside. The black man was still fighting for his own rights while fighting a war.

Decades later, the black man is one of many “underdogs” fighting for their rights in this country. Although everyone is supposed to have the same rights and be treated equally, there are many groups of people who are constantly having to fight for these given rights. The black man has been seen time and time again as the target of racially fueled hatred in American society. Equal to him in this prejudice is the gay man, the transgender people, and various religious groups. The same way the negro soldier was made to be “less than” in my day, these groups are thought to be “less than” in these days. The poem “Negro Hero” fits in today’s society and that is a shame for as long ago as it has been written. Society has come a long way, but not a long enough way as far as prejudice is concerned. Certain groups are still being persecuted and singled out. They are still being ridiculed and made to feel like outsiders.