Jimmy Carter once said, “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.” Many people are the world wish this was true but each day, it is encountered. People who have lived in the United States for hundreds of years are discriminated against because of their skin color and culture. The poet, Martín Espada writes about these injustices in his poems,”Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, and “Two Mexicans Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3,1877”. In all of his poems, Espada shows these injustices by exploring the role of power.

In schools, the principal has the highest point of power and every decision generally weighs on him or her. “The New Bathroom policy at English High School” includes that power role of the principal. In the poem, the principal bans the speaking of Spanish in the bathrooms because it makes him uncomfortable. “The only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ and this constipates him.” The use of the word “constipated” shows how when the boys speak Spanish, the fear of the unknown stops the principal from understanding what he wants to understand. “So he decides/ to ban Spanish/ fro the bathrooms/ now he can relax.” This shows how by taking away the boys freedom of speech, the principal can relax knowing that he now has the ability to understand. He shows the boys that he has the power by taking away a basic right.

In the poem, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, there is no set position of  power. The role shifts as the subject shifts. “Whenever I hear my name mispronounced,/ I want to buy a toy pistol”. This line is very relatable because many people have encountered this anger. When something as personal as your name is mispronounced, you can feel weak. However, the poem displays the discrimination of more than just a name. It displays the constant miscommunication of personal and meaningful aspects of life. The power in this poem overlooks how meaningful these things are to those they are addressing. “Hijack a busload/ of Republican tourists/ from Wisconsin,/ force them to chant/ anti-American slogans”. This shows the feeling the subject has when the person of power abuses their authority.

“Two Mexicans Lynched” has a clear position of power. The fact that the subjects of that power are no longer living, enhances it. The quote, “more than floating corpses/ trussed like cousins of the slaughterhouse,” shows the stakes of the situations and the complete abuse of power because death is the tipping point. “But all crowding into the photograph” shows how the authority figures are proud of what they did. They don’t see their abuse of power and of others’ culture.

“The New Bathroom Policy”, “Two Mexicans Lynched”, and “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” show the discrimination of the subject through the position of power. They do this through the portrayal of feeling, the banning of a basic right, and the proudness of the authority figures. All three poems present a strong situation through the position of power.

Upfront Essay-- “CHINA’S CRAM SCHOOLS” by Brook Larmer

Dr. Seuss once said, “Only you can control your future.” This quote applies to many people around the world but not to students in China. One test, the gaokao, is all that universities look at when choosing applicants. Students develop health risks and many other problems arise. The gaokao does not benefit the students health and determines their lives.

When it comes to the gaokao many students are put at risk medically. Because their lives ride on their scores, students are put under an immense amount of stress. This causes suicide rates to soar and just like Yang Wei, a then senior, had classes starting at 6:20 in the morning and ending at 10:50 at night for three years leading up to the exam. A picture shows students in Hubei Province hooked up to IV drips in order to keep studying. This is an extreme because it is   pushing the students beyond their point of exhaustion. The gaokao causes students to be put at risk in order to study and do well.

Everyone in China is affected by the gaokao, even if they aren’t the ones taking it. Many parents work extra hours when high school nears because even public schools like Maotanchang cost money. Many students move with their mothers or into the dorms so that they can attend the “cram school”. Students are taught with “military rigor” because the teachers’ job security and bonuses depend on raising their students’ test scores. Maotanchang High School goes to extreme lengths to ensure their students education with security guards that roam the campus and surveillance cameras that track the students. Although the results pay off, about 80 percent score high enough to get into university, the conditions are very severe.

It is unfair to base a persons’ life off of one test because it only shows how well they can take the test and how much they can memorize, not what they are good at or smart in. A lot of tests don’t show how intelligent a student is but more how much they are paying attention to what they are reading and how tired they are. A student could get all the questions of the last passage wrong because they were tired and just circled random answers. The article did not describe the test but a test doesn’t always show a students’ best talents, putting them at a disadvantage.

Many event in Chinese cultural revolve around the gaokao. Students are put at risk and teachers, parents, and others go to extremes to help students do their best. Millions of lives every year are determined by the gaokao, which is studied for for three years. Students attend cram schools such as Maotanchang High School where they are taught everything they need to know for the exam.Cram schools for the gaokao cause many problems in Chinese lives.