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Natasha Trethewey Incident Essay

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Today’s Racism And Its Effects
“Incident”, a poem by Natasha Trethewey, speaks on the ongoing trauma caused by racism in the United States. The poem describes a traumatic event in the speaker's life in which members of the KKK burned a cross in the front lawn of her house while she and her family hid from inside. Natasha describes the event in an almost casual tone, not describing the event straightforwardly, but instead leaving implications for the reader. While this poem was set to be during civil war times, the themes present are some that are still seen in today's society.
Everyday microaggressions and slander on social media serve as cuts to African Americans. The lack of intensity present from a group like the KKK does not mean …show more content…

Today, racism most commonly comes in forms of microaggressions. When put up next to burning crosses, microaggressions do not seem as bad, and they aren’t, but the toll placed on African Americans is still alarming. This casual racism creates a sense of normalcy among our society to the point that it goes ignored. These frequent and overt actions create a build up in the psyche of black people, rooting them in a long lasting
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A counter argument could be made towards the true relatability of the poem to today's world as there are slim to none cases of the KKK burning crosses in people's yards. Today, that sort of thing does seem extreme, however, if we were to jump another hundred years into the future, people could see the huge effects of police brutality, online hate speech, and common hate crimes as something as extreme as we see the KKK today. Racially motivated crimes on
African Americans have remained equally relevant in America for forever, racism has just
Thretheway flawlessly depicts the normalcy of racism and the deeply rooted trauma …show more content…

2017, https://womensvoicesforchange.org/poetry-sunday-incident-by-natasha-trethewey.htm. Gupta, SudipDas. "Incident by Natasha Trethewey".
“Incident” by Natasha Trethewey serves as a powerful reminder of how unnoticed racism actually is. By bringing light to the lasting effects of racism and the deep trauma it creates, the poem forces the reader to acknowledge the relevancy and severity of casual racism. From microaggressions to police brutality, “incident” sadly remains relevant to today’s society, but the message it serves is a necessary one in the fight to help cut down on seemingly unnoticed modern racism.
Works Cited
Abrams, Z. (2020, January 28). Sounding the alarm on black youth suicide. https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/black-youth-suicide Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/natasha-trethewey/incident/. Accessed 21 April 2023.
Jeffersonc. “Racial Trauma and Its Effects on Mental Health.” Jefferson Center, 30 Dec. 2022, www.jcmh.org/racial-trauma-and-its-effects-on-mental-health/. still extremely relevant in society. African Ameri cans are still faced with threats and physical attacks. Most of them feel as if n their e expe m ri r en

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