Emma Liggett

Engl 451

Fall 2015

History Through Blood Ties

            Racism is not a new concept in America. This country has a history full of racism, and stories of injustice and hatred permeate much of America’s history. Of all the poets that we’ve read this Semester, none of them show this more than Sean Hill, who wrote Blood Ties and Brown Liquor. It is through the poems in this book that the author carries the reader through time, and shows us the face of racism and slavery. Hill shows the reader that racism has been going on for hundreds of years. He shows that there was more to racism than just what was shown in history books. Through his poems, he is able to show the far reaching effects of slavery and racism through the course of hundreds of years.

            Some of the poems in Blood Ties and Brown Liquor connect to an actual event that happened in the past that has to do with racism. By writing poems about these events, as well as interweaving them with poems that tell a more personal history, Sean Hill is able to draw the reader in and tell more about racism than a history book would be able to do.

One of the poems that combines personal history with the history of race can be found on the very first page of Blood Ties and Brown Liquor. “Southampton County, Virginia Aubade 1831” is an aubade about Nat Turner. Nat Turner was a slave who led a rebellion of slaves against whites. It happened in late August of 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia, and between fifty five to sixty five whites were killed. It was the largest number of fatalities caused by a slave rebellion in the south. The book starts off with this poem. If you didn’t know what the poem was about, you may think it was a peaceful poem. It describes a peaceful morning where frogs and crickets are singing, as if nothing is wrong. “The mockingbird greets the morning / with many tongues.” It is only once you learn the true meaning behind this poem does the reader understand why the morning is so peaceful. It’s peaceful because the white families who lived there are either dead, or escaped during the night. This is one of the poems in the book which carefully explores both personal history, and racial history.

            Another poem that ties personal history and racial history is “Uncle John”. The poem tells the story of the narrator’s uncle, who was sentenced to fourteen years in jail for stealing a ham. This harsh sentence was the result of blacks receiving harsher punishment than whites for crimes during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. During these times, state and local governments leased convicts to private businesses. The majority of these convicts were black, and received harsher sentences than their white counterparts. “Uncle John” tells a personal story, while still being rooted in historical events. The tone of the poem is bitter, and one can almost feel the anger and frustration felt by the narrator, the uncle, and the rest of the family because of the injustice of what happened.

“He don’t never want to see

No more ham on his plate

Hates pigs

Was hard for him

Hates white folks too”

Fourteen years is an extremely harsh punishment for stealing a ham. The reader can feel the bitterness throughout the poem, but it is especially apparent in the very last line of the poem, which says “Can’t raise white folks for slaughter.” There’s a double meaning in this poem. The narrator’s Uncle John became a hog farmer, but he doesn’t eat pork. He’ll eat just about anything else. Uncle John sees white folks as little more than pigs because of the unfair way he and other African Americans were treated, and because of the harsh sentence he received for his crime. This poem has its roots in personal history, as well as the history of racism in America.

Another poem that is rooted in two histories is “The State House Aflame 1833.” This poem describes the Milledgeville State House catching fire. While the white people were grabbing official records and furniture and moving it out of the building, it was a slave who was trying to put out the fire, and managed to save the state house from burning down. His name was Sam, and he was the slave of a man named John Marlow. According to Sean Hill, he came across this story in an old history book when he was in school, and realized a lot of people didn’t know about this incident of a slave staving the Capital building. (Southern Spaces) What makes this poem interesting is how it contains lines from a newspaper about the incident, from the Federal Union, dated November 20th, 1833.

“We cannot pass in silence

over the exemplary conduct

of a negro man named Sam

the slave

of Mr. Marlow, of this place.”

            The poem makes sure to let the reader know that Sam is a slave. It also makes sure the reader knows that Sam is braver than any of the white people in the poem. Sam is the only person to try and stop the fire, not caring if he is burned in the process. Not only does the poem say this, but early on in the poem, it also talks about slavery as a business. It describes slaves ‘changing hands / like cattle.’ This poem shows that a slave can be brave, even braver than a slave master. It shows that slaves were still people, regardless of what the times were like. It also brings up a relatively unknown part of history. Hill stated that not many people know about this part of history. It is likely because Sam was a slave that his story was not told and celebrated. By telling this poem, Hill brings Sam story to life, and gives a chance for him to be treated as a hero, instead of a footnote in a history book.

            One more poem which balances personal history with the history of racism is ‘Lillian and her Cats’. This is a poem which talks about a schoolteacher. But what makes this poem interesting is a few lines near the end of the poem.

“In the New South where little Black boys

play alongside little white boys

her students loved her this woman passing fair

with wavy tresses of black.”

            This mention of the ‘New South’ brings up a historical issue- desegregation. According to Blood Ties and Brown Liquor, “ The 1970-1971 academic year was the first year of desegregation in Baldwin County schools.” (Hill) This ‘New South’ is a desegregated south, one where white and black children both go to the same schools. So Hill is showing the reader a bit about this point of history, by showing it through the narrative of a child.

            But this isn’t the only interesting perspective this poem gives the reader. The last two lines read as follows: “I fought a playmate for her. / He claimed her as his color.” In an earlier stanza, we learn that this teacher is ‘passing fair,’ or she has lighter skin. But she isn’t white. She is a black woman, even if she can pass as white. Because both races claim hers as theirs, this poem illustrates some underlying racism that is still going on. Just because desegregation has been implemented in schools doesn’t mean that racism has disappeared. In fact, some may argue that desegregation made things more tense, because of the close proximity it brought members of opposite races. Whatever the argument, though, one can agree that this poem once again demonstrates Hill’s way of combining personal history with racial history.

            The last poem I will be tlking about that combines personal history and racial history is ‘Insurance Man 1946.’ On July 25, 1946, four people were shot and lynched. The FBI believed it was the cause of the KKK. One of the people killed, Dorothy Malcom, was seven months pregnant. She had her baby cut out of her with a knife. When the FBI questioned the locals around the area, they were met with silence. The white people wouldn’t break their silence, and the blacks were afraid of retribution of what would happen if they spoke up. The killers were never found, and no one was ever prosecuted for the crime. (Boyle)

            Hill brings this up in ‘Insurance Man 1946.’ He takes on the persona and dialogue of an insurance man trying to sell his client, Silas, insurance. And to do that, he brings up a harsh reality. That he could be killed at any moment because of what color his skin is. It’s fitting that the poem that follows this one is called ‘Nightmare 1946,’ in which Silas has a nightmare where a mob of white people attack and hang him. Though it’s a nightmare for him, for many, it was a reality.

            Hill masterfully uses his poems to showcase what racism is like. Not just in a more modern day, but also through the span of a few hundred years. His poems blend personal histories and the history of racism, and bring to light many subjects that might have otherwise stayed in silence.

Sources

Boyle, Louise, “FBI closes in on KKK members” Dailymail.com, 2015

Hill, Sean, “Blood Ties and Brown Liquor,” The University of Georgia Press, 2008

Southern Spaces, Hill Discusses repetition in Blood Ties, his Discovery of  

Milledgeville, “The State House Aflame 1833,” Flannery O’Connor (2/3,) vimeo, 2015