Guillen quotes the beginning of Yevtushenko`s poem about King ‘ His skin was black /but with the purest soul,/white as the snow…’ before the ‘ black poet ‘ replies with his own ‘ summary ‘ of what ‘ they ‘ said about King. It seems clear that the use of the word ‘ they ‘ was intended as a description of, or ‘ shorthand ‘ for, sections of ‘ white ‘ (or ‘non-black ‘) society. Firstly,‘ they ‘ appear to refer positively to the ‘ white soul ‘ of the ‘ noble preacher ‘, but ‘ they ‘ appear to feel compelled to follow this with a comment about the colour of his skin, ‘His skin so black…..his skin so black in colour ‘. Taken together, the reader feels as if ‘ they ‘, in seeking to ‘ praise ‘ King, are actually putting their ignorance on open display with these ‘ colourful ‘ references. After all, references to colour, whether in relation to a man’s skin colour or soul, is completely ‘ at odds ‘ with the beliefs, ‘ dreams ‘ and the ‘ message ‘of King himself.
The ‘ black poet ‘ goes on to describe in more detail how ‘ they ‘ saw King, so his black skin was ‘ on the inside snow ‘, a ‘ white lily ‘, ‘ fresh milk ‘, ‘ cotton ‘. Guillen would probably reject any suggestion that these several references to colour / ‘whiteness ‘ can be ‘ passed off ‘ or ignored as merely a benign or innocent poetic ‘ tool ‘. It appears that Guillen wants the reader (whether black or white) to understand that prejudice against black people can exist at many levels, with some being more obvious than others. These particular references conjure up universal and compelling images of ‘ whiteness ‘ that most people are familiar with, for example ‘ as white as snow ‘, ‘ lily white ‘ or ‘ milky white ‘.
Guillen appears to recognise how effective his using these powerful images of ‘ whiteness ‘ is likely to be, upon every reader, at some level. The very fact of this seems to be confirmed by our own reading of the poem where, inevitably, we can easily understand the imagery at a ‘sub-conscious ‘ level without having to contemplate any deeper meaning. In short, we can effortlessly ‘ get ‘ what Guillen is ‘ getting at ‘, without having to actively ‘ think ‘ about it.
Guillen uses the ‘ positive ‘ ‘ white ‘ references to comment on the development of language and poetry in a dominant ‘ white ‘ society that has itself developed under a shadow of prejudice and negative stereotyping of black people. Once the ‘ penny drops ‘, the reader can see how seemingly ‘ benign ‘ or harmless words and phrases can be ‘ used ‘, whether intentionally or not, to underpin prejudice and reinforce harmful stereotypes. As a white Anglo-Saxon male reader, the automatic association of ‘whiteness ‘ with ‘ goodness ‘ and ‘purity ‘ serves up ‘ an unwelcome ‘dish’ of ‘ food for thought ‘ about how each of us might, unknowingly, perpetuate prejudice and reinforce negative stereotypes of black people.
After filling our heads with something more than ‘ white lies ‘, Guillen`s feelings about prejudice and negative stereotyping are ‘driven home ‘ by his immediate use of the term ‘ Such innocence ‘ to describe King. It is no accident that this term concludes the images of ‘ whiteness ‘ in ASABAC. The ‘ purity ‘ of these descriptions of ‘ whiteness ‘ is ‘ enriched ‘ by alliteration and the use of the word ‘ stain ‘ in the next statement – ‘There wasn’t one stain on his impeccable interior ‘. King cannot have a ‘ stained ‘, or impure ‘ interior ‘ because it is ‘ white ‘ (and therefore ‘ impeccable ‘).
Guillen brings the images of ‘ whiteness ‘ to a close with a statement contained within brackets, as though it is an ‘ after thought ‘ or merely ‘ incidental to what he really wants to say ‘In short, a handsome find: ’ The Black whose soul was white ‘, that curiosity ‘. This evokes a feeling that ‘ they ‘ are actually felt by Guillen to have been more than a little ‘ patronising ‘ to King and, by inference, to all ‘ black ‘ people. King is seen by ‘ them ‘as ‘ The Black whose soul was white ‘ and this, to them is a ‘ curiosity ‘. Here, in rejecting the ignorance that simply sees ‘ whiteness ‘ as ‘ good and pure ‘, Guillen makes a powerful statement about negative stereotyping of black people.
Finally, after his ‘ gentle ‘ savaging of the ignorance of seeing ‘ whiteness ‘ as ‘ goodness ‘, Guillen suggests a radically different ‘ tribute ‘ might be made to Martin Luther King. He uses the word ‘ black ‘ in four consecutive statements to describe his ‘ soul ’, ‘passion ‘, ‘ thoughts ‘ and ‘ love ‘.
Here the reader is asked to accept tributes to King which use ‘positive ‘ images of ‘ blackness ‘. In short, it ‘ comes across ‘ as a request for us to consider a reversal of the earlier imagery (which we ‘ understood ‘ so easily). The word ‘ black ‘ is now directly associated a ‘ vision ‘ of ‘blackness ‘ that is ‘ foreign ‘ to language and poetry that has ‘evolved ‘ from a ‘ white’ dominated society / culture. So finally, we seem to be thrown a ‘ challenge ‘ by Guillen to accept as ‘ positive ‘ descriptions of King which praise his ‘ powerful black soul ‘, his ‘ proud black passion ‘ and his ‘ pure black thoughts ‘.
Guillen`s penultimate line, ‘ What black love./So colourlessly given ‘, leaves the reader with a positive, and ‘ colour – free ‘ image of King, ‘ that gentlest of pastors ‘, as a man who incredibly, despite the harsh experiences of black people living with prejudice and negative stereotypes, still knew the importance of being capable of love without reference to colour. This was an important part of King`s dream and it seems to be recognised by Guillen as the ‘right ‘ thing to do. The poem ends with Guillen asking the reader, rhetorically, why King, ‘ that heroic pastor ‘, couldn’t have ‘ a soul that’s black ‘. This is a powerful and appropriate question to end with, and one for every reader of ASABAC to consider from now on.