Mr. Z by M. Carl Holman

Mr. Z by M. Carl Holman

The poem titles Mr. Z by M. Carl Holman, tells the burdened story of a ethnic looking man, possibly black, and his struggle to rise above racial profiling and prejudice. I find it peculiar that the poem is entitled Mr. Z and does not offer real insights to his name or race. Although it does hint at the fact that he has, "exotic skin". I believe this strategy in keeping Mr. Z unmasked, is done with the reason that all minority people who deal with this struggle can relate, not just pertaining to blacks. The poem talks about how Mr. Z tried to avoid involving race in his life and tried to act as if it was not an issue. However, throughout the entire poem, which documents his life, Holman is constantly mentioning words are phrases having to do with race. He writes words such as, "Anglo-Saxonized", "Jewishness", "Episcopalian", "kosher accent". This poem has the purpose of displaying a man's very sad and ironic life in which he is constantly hammered by that which he tries to ignore. He tries to live his life as much as possible without the issue of race even being of subject. However, he is put to shame at the end of his life when it reads this in the paper, "One of the most distinguished members of his race" (Holman). I believe that this poem tries to attack the issues of racial profiling and how it can make humans feels less as individuals and more as another stereotype. This poem seems to fall in the same line as the previous poems and stories of this unit. I believe I am on the right track, when I state that this unit is based on the subject of race.