Bennett Poetry

Bennett, Gwendolyn. "Bennett Poetry." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David L. Lewis. New York: Viking Penguin, 1994. 221-23. Print.

I wanted to discuss my views on Bennett’s poem Hatred, since it was brought up in a presentation last week. I like the poem – it does a great job of describing the feelings of Bennett as she wrote it. What confuses me, though, is who exactly she hates. Is she talking to racists, or fellow blacks who allow their own subjugation? Is she talking to an ex-lover, or taking on the voice of white supremacists and speaking in character to blacks? I don’t know, but since this poem appears in the Harlem Renaissance anthology, I’m going to have to assume that she is addressing whites. I would argue that she is taking on the voice of white people and addressing blacks, but the articulation and word choice lead me to believe that her hatred is more focused and specific than the hatred of bigoted minds.

I understand where Bennett is coming from if she is, in fact, addressing white racists. The indignant, loathing hatred of people that belittle and demean your way of life is very close to my heart, especially in recent times with certain social movements and the abundant horrible, disgusting bigotry. It rolls around in your mind, infuriating you until you find that it is within your reason to slaughter every last bigoted degenerate without any qualms. Bennett knows what I’m talking about, or, rather, I know what she was talking about. But once reason takes over, I can’t agree with Bennett’s sentiments. Yes, hatred is powerful and extremely satisfying, but in the end it only fuels the bigots and hatred that started your own. I’m not advocating pacifism, per se, but rather self-control and logical reasoning. Throwing fuel onto the flames only makes the fire burn that much harder. Still, I can see why this poem was so widely reproduced and quoted.