Mr. Z

The poem Mr. Z by M. Carl Holman really made me a little sad when I finally understood it. I think this poem is about a half African American who is trying to overcome the racial boundaries society has placed on him by essentially disowning his own race. The references to "kinship with jazz and spirituals" and "cornbread, yams and collards" are suggestive of the African American race.  The speaker's animosity towards his African heritage is shown through phrases like "Taught early that his mother's skin was the sign of error", which tells that his mother was the patent of African descent, and "disclaimed kinship with jazz and spirituals, which illustrates his dislike of traditional African culture. It is understandable that one might feel this way toward African heritage if living in the United States, restricted by a society that firmly looked down upon individuals of other races. Also, the fact that this man was mixed probably made him more frustrated because he was probably stil persecuted despite being partly white. What made me sad was not the anger he felt towards feeling this persecution because of his race, but that he had to feel this anger and grow to dislike his own lineage because of social standards in America.