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Comparing Nikky Finney's Poems Head Off And Red Velvet

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The works that we have been reading challenge us to be different than our culture. Each work challenged us to rise above our culture by examining and emphasizing several different American cultural flaws. Social inequality between races has been one of the main themes examined in these works. In The Moors Account, the Governor’s treatment towards the Native Americans throughout entire novel progressively creates problems for him. Rather than treating someone who is different than him with respect, the Governor treats the Native Americans as lesser humans. His actions are similar to how as a culture we tend to judge those who live different lives than us or those go against the "norms" of our culture. This theme is also reflected within Nikky Finney’s poetry Head Off & Split, more specifically Ms. Finney’s poem, Red Velvet, which talks about the life of civil rights activist Rosa Parks. When Ms. Parks defied the bus driver, she was standing up for her belief that she should have equal rights as an African American. Although The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, our culture still requires …show more content…

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