If Not You, Then Who?

Audedat 9

Katherine Audetat
Engl201/Prof. Floren

Paper 3. Draft 4
11/09/04

Each decade of the past century has come with a unique set of triumphs and tragedies. The Roaring Twenties gave us the radio, the "Tommy Gun," and the beginning of the Great Depression. In the nineteen-sixties came Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Viet Nam War. The nineteen-eighties brought the Human Genome Project, the "Just Say No" campaign, and the Iran-Contra Arms Deal. Today, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, Israel continues to oppress Palestine, oil is worth more than blood, and homelessness is at it highest rate ever. America has amazing technology, but that technology has made it possible to put a bomb through a doorway without touching the sides. The common thread between all of the advancements is the expansion of the human mind. The common thread between all of these tragedies is the shrinking of the human heart. The lack of concern and action on the behalf of those in need is enabling and exacerbating many of the problems that face humanity. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., put it, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." Musicians such as Bob Marley, Tracy Chapman, and Johnny Cash have given us songs that try to convey how dismal the situation is. Authors of poetry and prose produce heart-wrenching stories about loss, and the lack of altruism. Painters, sculptors, and photographers give us images of this suffering. As we remark, "What a touching picture" or sing along with these songs, we remain oblivious. It is time to take notice, take a stand, and take action.

Take "To the Lady," for example, a poem about the mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II written by Mitsuye Yamada. As a Japanese-American who experienced the relocation of Japanese-Americans to isolation camps per Executive Order 9066, Yamada focuses on social injustice and the failure of people to stand up for others. First there is the sarcastic response to the question of why a Japanese-American could have allowed her own internment in a concentration camp: "Come to think of it, I should’ve..." (5); the speaker lists a number of possible actions as if the idea of protesting had never occurred to her at the time of the injustice. Then she suggests that perhaps she "should've screamed bloody murder / like Kitty Genovese" (20-21), the woman who screamed and screamed when she was being stabbed to death in New York, while thirty-eight people heard her screaming and not one of them came to her aid. Should the Japanese-Americans have screamed? Would they have been, like Kitty Genovese, ignored? The speaker says that if she had screamed, then

YOU would’ve
come to my aid
in shining armor
laid yourself across the railroad track
marched on Washington
tattooed a Star of David on your arm
written six million enraged letters to Congress

By using the capital letters in "YOU would've" (23), the speaker forces her readers to consider seriously what we would have done if the event had happened today and to us; she forces us out of the historical blind, where we could just blame Roosevelt or other people from that time in history.

But we didn’t draw the line
anywhere
law and order Executive Order 9066
social order moral order internal order
You let’m
I let’m
All are punished.

She shows us that in a misguided attempt to create order, a huge injustice was committed against the Japanese-Americans, and that the responsibility must be shared.

During World War II, Hitler committed great crimes against humanity by targeting and killing over six million Jews, as well as millions of other “undesirables,” other groups that could similarly be ignored by the majority. As the Allied Powers defeated Hitler and ended his reign of terror, the horrifying discovery of concentration camps was made. Yamada’s poem reminds us that just as horrifying is the fact that while acting as savior to people across the world, Americans were committing an act of racial hatred and discrimination against our own citizens by issuing Executive Order 9066. The "Star of David" (27) and "six million enraged letters" (28) are symbolic of the torture and suffering of Jews, and also of the oppression and suffering of Japanese-Americans—all are symbolic of the heavy toll of ignorance. The poem concludes with the words “You let’m / I let’m / All are punished.” (34-36) to show that we all must take responsibility for how the Japanese-Americans “allowed” their mistreatment and to show that there are more than two roles of victim and perpetrator. By failing to stand up—“But we didn’t draw the line / anywhere” (30-31) —those who are complacent are as culpable as those who order social injustices such as the imprisonment of the Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Another area where complacency has the effect of increasing suffering is homelessness, a chronic problem often dismissed as some fault of the victims. Street life lacks the drama that war, famine, and earthquakes create; so it is not covered by the media as a serious problem. Marie Jordan’s "La Bella Vita," which means "the beautiful life" in Italian, conveys through symbolism the hardships that homeless people live with on a daily basis.

There's always plenty of cardboard for walls

and beds, but now that business is slow

with more people hauling their own aluminum

to recycle, I have to put in more miles. I don't mind.

Old newspapers get soaked through in rain, bottles

get too heavy to carry without a cart. It don't pay

much to panhandle with the cut so big. You got to be

smart in today's world, know the jungle, develop

seven deadly eyes, be the first to strike, this ain't no

easy street, know what I'm saying? Hey, I got no

complaints. I'm same as you and you know it. We

both of us, honey, we living the good life.

"There's always plenty of cardboard for walls" (1); as optimistic as it sounds, who wants cardboard for walls? "Business is slow" (2), but is recycling someone else's aluminum cans any kind of business? The speaker says, "It don't pay / much to panhandle with the cut so big” (6-7). The "cut" might be an actual portion of income paid to police officers, shop owners, or other panhandlers to ensure that a panhandler can continue to conduct business, or the "cut" might be the act of trying so hard for so little. The speaker, who says that he or she doesn’t mind the extra work, is most likely too disheartened to be put out, and aware of the seven deadly sins (“seven deadly eyes” line 9). People living on the streets can’t be vain when wearing dirty, ragged clothing, can’t be gluttonous when there is nothing to overindulge in; and sloth isn’t an option when the hardest work is barely enough to survive. Lust, greed, wrath, and envy might be felt; but they won’t help the situation.

As the poem closes, the speaker shows how discouraged they are: "Hey, I got no / complaints. I'm same as you and you know it. We / both of us, honey, we living the good life” (10-12). The speaker has "no complaints," because complaining won't do anything. Many homeless people feel that they have been cast aside by society and neglected by the government, and in many cases they are right. The one small shred of dignity remaining is that they are still human, but in contrast to what the speaker says, most of us do not "know it." Most people just walk past panhandlers and homeless people without even thinking. According to one website (www.homeless.org), about twenty-two percent of the homeless are mentally ill, and about thirty-four percent of the homeless are dependent on drugs or alcohol; about twenty percent work, and about eleven percent are veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Too often, people say "Why do they deserve my money?" Why does anyone "deserve" anything? Did we somehow earn the right to be alive, to go to school, or to have medical care? For that matter, does anyone "deserve" to starve? Deserve doesn't mean anything here; it is a pathetic excuse to try to equate effort with reward. Being fed and sheltered is not a reward, but a necessity. A common excuse to ignore the homeless is saying "I don't have enough money to help," but money isn't the only way to help. Donating time, skills, belongings, or prayers would be appreciated and helpful.

Sometimes even a musician or a song can help us wake up and take notice. Take Pink Floyd, for example. Hailed as one of the most influential bands of all time, Pink Floyd has produced and performed some of the greatest songs of all time, a number of which concern themes of politics, war, and humanity. "On the Turning Away," written by David Gilmour and Anthony Moore, is about the tendency of people to look the other way instead of confronting the suffering of others. In addition to potent lyrics, "On the Turning Away" has a powerful, moving melody, which aids in conveying the angst that we should feel, but often do not. Although ultimately left to the interpretation of the listener, many parts of this poem are too profound to be misunderstood. In the second line of the poem, the word "downtrodden" does not simply mean poor, or sick, or a racial minority, or even human; it means all who are oppressed. This oppression is no accident: "It's a sin that somehow, / Light is changing to shadow" (9-10). This is not some small oversight on the part of humanity; it is a sin, a serious transgression. The song encourages us to be aware:

Don’t accept that what’s happening
Is just a case of others suffering,

Or you’ll find that you’re joining in

The turning away. (5-8)

Mass suffering should not be accepted or expected as a normal part of life like a flat tire or a stuffy nose. Homelessness, starvation, oppression, and exploitation are not just "normal" parts of life; they are the end of it. Those who are suffering will use words "which we won't understand" (4). The word "won't" instead of "don't" could mean that either people refuse to understand the gravity of what is going on, or that history, “casting its shroud / Over all we have known” (11), tells us that we won't ever understand the suffering of others because we are “driven on by a heart of stone” (14).

But with “the speechless unit / In a silent accord” (19-20), the song transitions to a more positive mood: "Feel the new wind of change / On the wings of the night" (23-24). By putting aside our selfishness and doing anything we can, we can help:

No more turning away,
From the weak and the weary.
No more turning away,
From the coldness inside.

Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare. (25-30)

We cannot ignore the problems facing the world. How can we expect others to care for us in times of hardship when we will not give a penny of our money or a minute of our time to help others when they need us? Circumstances can change quickly; any one of us could find ourselves struggling for healthcare, food, or shelter. If we continue to be cruel more often than kind, harsh more often than gentle, and selfish more often than selfless, we will all continue in this state of unrest. There are three kinds of people affecting all situations: those who are harmful, those who are helpful, and those who are complacent. So, help is not merely the absence of harm; it is also the absence of complacency. Think about what you can do to help. How will you help? Where will you stand? If not you, then who?

Works Cited

Gilmour, David J., and Anthony Moore. "On the Turning Away." A Momentary Lapse of

Reason. Columbia, CK-40599, 1987.

Jordan, Marie. "La Bella Vita." Tidepools: A Journal of Ideas. Eds. Gloria Floren and Jane

Mushinsky. Oceanside, CA: MiraCosta College, 2003. 39.

"Make A Change." Grassroots.org (2004). 6 November 2004. <www.homeless.org>

Yamada, Mitsuye. "To the Lady." Literature for Composition, 6th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet et

al. New York: Longman, 2003.1057.

To the Lady
by

Mitsuye Yamada

The one in San Francisco who asked;
Why did the Japanese Americans let
the government put them in
those camps without protest?

Come to think of it I
should've run off to Canada
should've hijacked a plane to Algeria
should've pulled myself up from my
bra straps
and kicked'm in the groin
should've bombed a bank
should've tried self-immolation
should've holed myself up in a
woodframe house and let you watch me
burn up on the six 0'clock news
should've run howling down the street
naked and assaulted you at breakfast
by AP wirephoto
should've screamed bloody murder
like Kitty Genovese

Then

YOU would've

come to my aid in shining armor
laid yourself across the railroad track
marched on Washington
tattooed a Star of David on your arm
written six million enraged
letters to Congress

But we didn't draw the line
anywhere
law and order Executive Order 9066
social order moral order internal order
You let'm
I let'm
All are punished

La Bella Vita
by
Marie Jordan