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Critcal Approaches

Historical/Biographical:

Brown grew up in a time of racial inequality and segregation, and his writing reflects his grievances and concerns in relation to race issues in America. Brown utilized his educational background and the atmosphere of the Harlem Renaissance to explore black people and their experiences. Though the Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of creativity from African Americans, there were still those who looked down to African Americans as inferiors and were willing to silence any one advocating a change in the current social order of the day, segregation and white supremacy.

Brown delicately composes “Southern Cop” and he purposely tries to give the impression of appealing to Ty Kendricks. Brown constructs the poem to in a way seeming to excuse Ty. His diction in the first line of every stanza associates sympathy with Ty. Although mainly writing to a black audience, Brown appeals to whites in order to emphasize the irony of Ty’s actions by styling the poem as an apologetic statement. His shifts in tone, diction, and the use of hyperbole firmly acknowledge the verbal irony and Brown’s discontent with the events surrounding the poem. Brown masks the true intent of poem as a means of protection and to satirize America’s true incompetence.

Formalistic Approach:

Brown utilizes diction, imagery, tone shift, and mood to structure “Southern Cop.” His use of these literary devices formulates his theme of discontent through verbal irony. Brown suggest, through his irony, that the innocent Negro deserves the nature of forgiving, understanding, condoning, and pitying that is literally associated with Ty Kendricks in the poem. Under further analysis, Brown, through the juxtaposition of “Darktown” and “[t]he day was so hot”, condemns the South’s affirmation and acceptance of Ty Kendricks (2-3). He characterizes the South’s society as an ill and ignorant. Brown uses the metaphor “[r]abbit scared, alone” in order to point out that a loss of innocence dies within the Kendricks but a strong feeling of regret lingers in the individual. The shock of his actions results in his painful observation of the “dying Negro moan” (22). Brown attempts to locate a certain hope in the future because unlike society the individual suffers internally from immoral action.