Martin Espada

    Martin Espadas poems “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” all show discrimination. I think that Martin Espada has experienced this type of racial discrimination in his life. This is based on the furry he expresses in his writing. I can also relate to many of his points about unfairness.
    In the poem “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” Martin Espada gives the reader a clear picture of boys speaking Spanish in the bathroom of an English school. The principle is in the bathroom stall when he hears his name. Although he does not know what the boys were saying about him, he assumes the worst and immediately bans Spanish from being spoken in the school bathroom. The action of banning Spanish was discriminatory towards the boys because they were not even given the chance to defend themselves. Their language, a huge part of their culture was taken away from them without a fight. Martin Espada did not express his anger so openly as he did in other poems. Instead, he made the poem brief and made the reader acknowledge the discrimination by getting right to the point. As I thought about this for a while, I came to a conclusion that the principle was most likely white and had never had his culture or language taken away from him.
    In “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” there is a boy who is upset because his name is continuously mispronounced. I can infer that his name is of great importance to him because of the way he describes how he wants to “hijack a busload of Republican tourists.” I also feel as though this poem is based off of the author’s personal experiences. I think this considering that his name is Martin. It is a name descended from a non-American culture. It is Spanish and is usually pronounced differently in America. Perhaps it is culturally special to him because the mispronunciation affects him greatly. It is unfair and discriminate towards people who’s names are always mispronounced when people do not care enough to try to get it right. I can relate to this issue because my name isn’t very common and it is annoying when nobody can pronounce it.
    In “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” Espada sets a scene from the past. It involved vigilantes taking charge and people being hung. I think Martin Espada wants the readers to think about the abusive power in this situation. People of different cultures were being tortured and discriminated. Another sign of the authors relationship to Spanish culture is when he involves Spanish rituals. This includes “the Virgen de Guadalupe” and “Dia de los Muertos.”
    The three poems, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” by Martin Espada, all show discrimination. Though all the topics are different, the author seems to relate back to discrimination in every poem. According to his writing, it is something he is passionate about and feels he needs to get his point across. I agree with these multiple issues. Discrimination is a big problem and must be identified by all people.