Is America still the bully?
This poem is really interesting combining history and imagery at the same time. Irony is a central theme in the poem. Roosevelt statue seems to be assigned with a role of the bully since we know who the weaker party was during the Spanish American War. The imagery of war is associated with the sounds of the poem. You do have to have a background in understanding the events described. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was a major supporter of going to war with the Spanish, although it was seen as unnecessary by President McKinley and others (Spanish-American War). Initially Roosevelt is not painted in such a negative light. The statue is described as being “nostalgic” of a time long lost, and imagery is used to support this. “Each fist lonely for a saber, or the reins of anguish-eyed horses.” After this, though, it presents imagery of Hispanic children “invading” the school. It closes with a description of the statue in an almost silly way, as it is about to be vandalized with “parrot-brilliant” colors across its mustache and monocle. At the same time Espada also talks of the desegregation movements and immigration occurring in Boston and America. The poem contrasts the beliefs Roosevelt had of ethnocentrism and reasons for invading the Caribbean with that of the desegregation movements in Boston. Espada also use question about our progress beyond the war. Have we progressed from the dominant white society we once were? Are we a more diverse society that we were before? How well society is accepting