Reflections on "difference"

Anaid Carreno, in her poem “Snake Tongue: Lengua de Culebra” writes about how a white supremacist, anti- immigrant society imposes demeaning and demonstrous roles on Latinx people and begs them to perform the stereotypes.  Here, Carreno rejects this imposition of criminal and subservient labels.  Carreno writes, “I am not illegal and you don’t have the right to label or decide/ I am not a criminal, I never was” (55).  Difference is something imposed onto the speaker, a social construction.  Nevertheless, it is a real oppressive force.  By actively rejecting the master narrative white people force onto the speaker, they create their own counter narrative.  

In “No Moon in L.A.” Anthony A. Lee ponders his relationship with and detachment from an addict who needed his help who he only gave five dollars.  He prefaces the poem with Luke 24:25, a verse which implies that those that think they are wise and are unwilling to take in new information are the biggest fools.  Lee’s speaker judges the addict for his “brown hair tangled and greasy” and other outward appearances and mannerisms (181).  However, at the end of the poem he wishes he would have taken the time to be compassionate and helped the man through his addiction.  I think that this speaks a lot to how difference is viewed in our current society.  Compassion is often an afterthought and we are very materialistic and selfish.  Difference, because of our implicit biases, is often viewed as purely cosmetic.  Most people won’t even take the time to hear a person’s story, especially if some trigger in their brain is conditioned to believe that person might hurt them or is pathetic or lazy.  It is very rare that people are humble enough to let go of their privilege and let helping another person without judgement or pride “save [their] soul” (180).  

In Danez Smith’s “Dinosaurs in the Hood” a pitch for a movie simply about “the little black boy on the bus with a toy dinosaur, his eyes wide & endless/ his dreams possible, pulsing & right there” (257).  Smith’s speaker lists all of the celebrities he does not want in the movie.  The intention of the speaker is very clear- the movie should reflect the real aspirations of hardworking people who live in the hood and should not be a stereotype.  The speaker says, “this movie can’t be a black movie” (256).  I interpret this not to mean that the movie shouldn’t star black people or be centered around elements of black and brown culture, but that it cannot be a vehicle for white Hollywood’s furthering the oppression of black people by framing the narrative of oppression.  To me, what is obvious and implicit about this poem is that white people should have no say in deciding what valuable or invaluable black or brown art is and/ or attempting to canonize it. Smith’s speaker is introducing different kinds of narratives to the audience that might not address “difference” in a way framed by white Hollywood.  This is just what I got from the poem, but I would love to hear other interpretations.