Martin Espada

The poems “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” and “ New Bathroom Policy at English High School” by Latino poet Martin Espada depict ignorance towards Mexicans and the misguided actions behind it. Using irony and raw humor, Espada is able to stir up in the reader the same anger he feels himself. This anger, this passion, threads all three poems together and causes the reader to connect emotionally to the racial hatred expressed.

In “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” the speaker emphasizes ignorance by showing readers how blinded people can be by racial differences. Espada gives us a glimpse of the bigotry and violence directed towards Mexicans because of their foreign culture. In this poem describing a photograph, two Latino corpses hang while nearby, vigilantes cheer about their supposed “victory,” over the Mexicans.  Espada starts the first three stanzas of the poem with the words “more than” and starts the last stanza with “remain the faces of the lynching party.”  These words explain how the vigilantes were ignorant enough to commit a crime so horrible and still be proud of their actions. While gazing at the weathered photograph, Espada observes “A high-collar boy smirking, some peering/ from the shade of bowler hats, but all/ crowding into the photograph.” These men and women seem not to mourn the unfair death of the Mexicanos, but rather take credit for it.  More than the death of the Mexicans, the real thing to be mourned is the disgusting birthday-like celebration being expressed in the picture.

In “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” the speaker  (presumably Mexican) depicts ignorance in another way.  This poem illustrates the different ways in which Mexicans and white Americans are treated “Whenever my name/ is mispronounced/ I want to buy a toy pistol,/ put on dark eyeglasses,/push my beret to an angle, / comb my beard to a point.” Obviously, mispronouncing the speaker’s name is a great level of disrespect towards him, because it is a part of his Mexican culture.  Americanizing his name seems to be taking away its cultural significance.  It goes on to state “ (I want to) hijack a busload/ of Republican tourists/ from Wisconsin/ force them to chant/ Anti-American slogans in Spanish.” As revenge for rejecting his culture(mispronouncing his name), the speaker seems to be giving Americans “a taste of their own medicine,” by turning them against their own culture. “ (I will) wait/ for the bilingual SWAT team/to helicopter overhead, /begging me to be reasonable.”  This is when readers start to see ignorance come into play.  This “bilingual SWAT team” is too ignorant, too unaware, to recognize the irony in their own actions.  

The poem “New Bathroom Policy at English High School,” highlights ignorance of the powers that be with an entertaining anecdote. “The boys chatter Spanish/ in the bathroom/ while the principal listens from his stall/  the only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ this constipates him.”  Firstly, being that he cannot understand any Spanish, the principal has obviously never made an effort to learn the language. Already, readers have an understanding of who this “principal” character is. Secondly, the fact that merely hearing his name spoken by his students makes him so disgruntled is rather pitiful. The speaker orates “So he decides to ban Spanish from the bathrooms/ Now he can relax.” How threatened the principal feels by foreign cultures and languages is absurd. The line “Now he can relax” makes me think of the concern and anxiety he felt, thinking that the children were talking about him.  Ignorance caused him to assume the worst in the children, and punish them just because he had the power to do so.

The poems “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” and “ New Bathroom Policy at English High School” all illustrate ignorance of the more fortunate poorly affecting another, less fortunate group (in this case Mexicans.)  Overall, exploring and analyzing these emotional poems made one better understand bigotry and racial hatred. While these poems may seem mocking and irate, they help inspire the reader to take a stand against such themes in their daily life.