Racism, Society, and Martin Espada’s "Beloved Spic"

By Jay Riha

On April 4, 1968 America experienced the tragic loss of one of its greatest social leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement who permeated American history as a man who maintained the importance of nonviolent social change. He fought racism within the public domain by pursuing school integration and basic civil rights for the African-American community. Thirty-one years after his death, America is forced to evaluate the exact implications of his legacy on modern society’s attitudes towards race and race relations. Did the civil rights movement really promote positive changes in race relations? How far has American society really come?

Despite the efforts of King and many of his comrades, racism is still prevalent in modern society. However, its presence is evidenced primarily in the attitudes and values which are taught to individuals in the private sector of American life as opposed to the laws and restrictions placed on individuals in the public sector during the civil rights era. Therefore, while racism appears to have dissipated within the public arena, it is most powerfully present in the privacy of our families and homes. This is also the most destructive arena for racism as seen in the poem "Beloved Spic" by Martin Espada. Espada uses his own life experiences to illustrate racism’s continued effect and presence in American culture today. Despite society’s best efforts to keep racism contained within the private domain, its effects filter through familial boundaries and mock the efforts of past martyrs for social change.

There is a marked dichotomy between attitudes and behaviors exhibited within the public sector and those expressed in the private sector. Espada illustrates this throughout the first verse of the poem. He describes his experience of a minority moving into a predominantly white neighborhood and uses the pronoun "it" to denote the racism he observes. He writes, "the neighbors kept it pressed inside dictionaries and Bibles like a leaf." This line illustrates the indigenous nature of racism as an attitude that is taught to individuals rather than biologically programmed as a component of their genetic makeup. The Bible and dictionaries are each tools used to teach and they are symbolic in the poem as templates for teaching racist attitudes and values. Racism is also " chewed for digestion after a heavy dinner." Here, Espada underscores the internal nature of racism as an ideology that is fed to and digested by family members. It becomes part of who they are as individuals. The author also identifies the secretive nature of racism. He observes individuals who "laughed when it hopped from their mouths likes a secret," and, "whispered it as carefully as the answer to a test question in school." It is intended to remain only within the confines of the private sector because it is considered culturally insensitive to express these views within the public domain.

However, even the best attempts to contain racism are not sufficient. At the end of the first verse Espada describes a situation whereby individuals overtly expressed their racist tendencies as they "bellowed it in barrooms when the alcohol made them want to sing." This antithesis supports the argument that racism’s cultural impacts are ignited and fueled by the attitudes and values taught within familial boundaries. Individuals cannot expect that their racist attitudes will not be evident within society itself. Further interpretation of Espada’s first verse illustrates the irony and fallacy of this expectation. Each of the behaviors described in the first verse is a social behavior. The author chooses behaviors that are interpersonal rather than intrapersonal. Examples of this include teaching certain attitudes and moral principles, eating, whispering amongst friends, and socializing in the local tavern. Consequently, racism, by its very nature, cannot be limited to the boundaries of the private domain. Its effects permeate into society and cause destruction to those who experience it personally.

What most often gets forgotten in the scrutiny of racism is its victims and how it dictates their lives. Many victims of racism accept it as a permanent part of their lives which they learn to cope with rather than alter. The silence of racism bred within the confines of the victimizer’s house is the same silence exhibited by the victim. This perpetuates the social impact of racism. The victim finds it much easier to assimilate various aspects of their lifestyle rather than fight for change in society as a whole. The second verse of Espada’s poem illustrates this point thoroughly. He describes various acts of racism he experiences and how he deals with each. He writes, "saw it spray painted on my locker and told no one, touched it stinging like the tooth slammed into a faucet, so I kept my mouth closed." On each of these occasions the author experiences racism in ways which would evoke anger and outrage by most individuals. It seems almost incredible that the narrator does not react in each of these scenarios. Rather, he maintains the vow of silence associated with racism and accepts it as a permanent part of his life as a minority living in the United States of America.

The effects of racism experienced by the victims themselves are also kept within the confines of the private sector. This proves to be more destructive as the victims’ level of anger and frustration rise to a volatile point. Espada engages in self-destructive behavior as he writes, "heard it in my head when I punched a lamp, mesmerized by the slash oozing between my knuckles." Because racism is not openly discussed in society or within the home of the victim, he turns his anger onto himself as it becomes the only outlet for his emotions. The author uses this to emphasize the destructive nature of racism as well as to bring attention to its impact on the minority population.

The poem ends with the family moving out of the neighborhood in attempts to prevent further abuse. This is a strong illustration of how minorities are forced to assimilate their lifestyles in order to accommodate the majority, which is a direct result of the silence of racism. Rather than stay and fight for change within the neighborhood, the family decides to quietly leave and comply with the racist mores infiltrating the neighborhood. The racism experienced by the family itself dictates what the family does, how they react in various situations, and who they become as a result.

In a country built on the values of freedom and justice, what a social atrocity for the American population to allow racism the control which it has on the lives of individuals. Minority populations are living in a prison called the United States of America where the majority decides the laws and what is culturally acceptable. The poem, "Beloved Spic" illustrates the destructive impact of racism in America today as well as the attempt to keep racism within the private domain. The same individuals who publicly declare support for equality are often proponents of racist attitudes within the home.

So the question still remains, has American society really come that far in race relations and where do we go from here? Martin Espada answers the question by illustrating the intense level of racism experienced by a minority living in modern society. The civil rights movement did make positive changes for the African-American community on various different political and social levels. However, racism needs to be broken down to its smallest components, which are the individuals who support and teach racist attitudes. The family itself is the basic unity of society. Therefore, the only way racism will be completely eliminated on a social level is if it is stopped on the individual level. Treating racism as a social phenomenon will provide short-term solutions, but will not treat the virus of hatred perpetuating its continued existence in our society today.