Cultural Paranoia in Amirie Baraka's Somebody Blew Up America

Abstract

The paper sheds the light upon the cultural paranoia experienced by Amiri Brarka in the American society in his poem 'Somebody Blew Up America' (2001). The poem was written as a reaction to the attacks of 11th September and it was the cause to dethrone Baraka from the Poet's Laureateship in New Jersey. Being a black poet living the catastrophic racial discrimination and humiliation of the White policies in the United States, Baraka turned to adapt hostile views and perspectives against the strategies of America in general and against the White-dominated society in particular because he thought that the Whites are the roots and causes of every racial act and terror in the world throughout history. The paper presents a textual study to Baraka's 'Somebody Blew Up America' in the light of the poet's cultural context, especially the cultural and political deprivation of the poet in the White-dominated American society. The poem shocked the Americans that their government was red-handed in the attacks of 11th September. Baraka did not accuse directly the Americans, but the rhetorical strategy of his poem led the reader and the audience to figure out that the one who was really responsible and blamable for all the terrorist acts in the world was the policy of the White House due to its racial prejudice.