Martin Espada In Class Response

Many seek power, but some take advantage of the power that they have. The poems, “New Bathroom Policy”, by Martin Espada, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos” all share similar themes. They talk about race, and issues regarding respect but share one main theme. All three of these poems exemplify abuse of power.

In the the poem “The New Bathroom Policy,” abuse of power is shown through authority in the “professional” environment of a school. In this poem, the principal of “English High School” bans spanish from the bathroom after hearing his name in a conversation between two spanish speaking students. The principal was unable to comprehend what they were saying, and because of that he made assumptions that the kids were talking about him in a negative connotation. This shows that the insecurity brought out from what we don't know or understand in society otherwise known as fear of the unknown, can be an internal cause for power abuse, which in this case was shown through the principal banning the language he did not speak and understand.

Additionally, in the poem, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” power abuse is shown through a satisfactory power. The author, Martin Espada discusses his anger when a stranger mispronounces his name. He becomes infuriated, and the poem goes through a sequence of desires he feels when his name is mispronounced. For example, he mentions his want to “Hijack a busload of republican tourists from wisconsin” which most directly is aimed towards Americans. Through this anger, it becomes clear to the reader that specifically Americans have this satisfactory power against him. It builds up his fury in a way where it makes it seem that he is the one abusing power but shifting the perspective, it is easy to see that the mispronouncing of his name makes him feel lesser of a person because his name is the main source of his identity. This brings it into disrespecting him as a person, and the Americans abusing the power they have over him to do that.

Lastly, in the poem “Two Mexicanos,” the power of all of the white children is abused through the description of the photograph. The picture shows two Mexican men being lynched for non legal purposes, hence “Forty gringo vigilantes” and a group of white young kids standing in the background smiling, trying to be a part of the picture. They are all standing in happiness and celebratory smiles as if they had just done something worth memorializing. Their power abused is shown through taking pride in what they've done. I think the author wanted the reader to see this through disgust around this picture and its description.

In conclusion, power can be taken advantage of in many ways, and it can be shown through writing in many forms. It is important to understand the values in power, and not to take power for granted, or to use it to harm other people. Sometimes people are completely unaware of this harm because they are blinded by the rewards they are getting from their power and greed. And because of this, it is vital to everyones general well being to earn and responsibly and carefully use power.