USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Grappling with death and white supremacist assaults on Black life and on Black peoples’ autonomies, McKay’s “If We Must Die” is a clarion call to protest and unity. He insists that If we must die, then we will establish the terms of our deaths.

Detailed explanation-2: -The overall message of the poem is that McKay wants to express how it pains him that he and his people are being treated so harshly. Then he goes to speak about his hopes of what America can become. Ultimately America is his new home and he wants nothing but the best for it.

Detailed explanation-3: -In this poem the poet (McKay) calls for actions against the enemy (foe). However, he shows that the struggle may mean death. But if they must die, it is better to die fighting so that they may be honoured later than dying while doing nothing. Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot.

Detailed explanation-4: -we must meet the common foe! The speaker uses that old-fashioned “O” again. (Kind of starting to sound like Shakespeare, right?) The speaker’s “kinsmen” are his buddies; they are like family to the speaker. This may be because they are fighting against the same “foe, ” or enemy.