Your door is shut against my tightened face
This quote is the opening line of the poem and reveals its central symbol. The "white house" is a metaphor for America, especially as it existed when the poem was first published in the early 1920s. The theme of the poem is the systemic and widespread presence of racial discrimination by white society in America. Thus, the symbolism of the door being shut against the speaker comments on the exclusion of Black people in society. The door is not locked to white faces. When confronted with this blatant exclusion, the speaker keeps a “tightened face,” suggesting that they conceal their emotions despite the suffering they endure. This theme of being forced to grapple with anger engendered by oppression is explored throughout the poem.
But I possess the courage and the grace
To bear my anger proudly and unbent.
This quote encapsulates the poem’s celebration of Black strength and pride in the face of overwhelming racism. The speaker has been denied entrance to the white house—and the political power and prosperity that it represents—but he still “possess[es]” something more important than the material possessions that he is denied: the core character traits of courage and grace. By “bear[ing]” their anger “proudly,” the speaker encourages others to speak out against white supremacy and to be proud of their just anger at such oppression. The speaker refers to themselves as “unbent,” tying his reflection on his courage to the poem’s setting of a metaphorical street. As the speaker walks down this street, he stands straight and tall, externally reflecting his internal resolve to withstand racism. The lines’ steady meter, following a consistent unstressed-stressed syllable pattern, mimics the pattern of the speaker’s proud steps as they stride down the street in the face of racism.
Oh, I must keep my heart inviolate
Against the potent poison of your hate.
These concluding lines of the poem suggest the only rationale for racial discrimination is pure, unadulterated hate. By identifying hate as a "poison," the speaker offers commentary on the widespread systemic nature of racism in America. Racism is capable of spreading from person to person, especially when it is reinforced by the legal system as implied by the poem, and thus cannot simply be erased from existence. The speaker promises here to stand up against the spread of such hatred by not adopting it himself and by not allowing the force of racism to destroy him.
A chafing savage, down the decent street;
Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass.
These lines exemplify the irony of racism in America. The people living on this groomed, manicured street “boldly” profess their racism by closing their doors against the speaker. Their doors are made of “glass,” metaphorically allowing the speaker to see inside to the pristine white houses to the hatred and racism contained within. The speaker ironically juxtaposes themselves with this supposedly “decent”—but actually cruel and hateful—street. Adopting the viewpoint of the people who discriminate again him, the speaker describes himself as a “savage." He reclaims this derogatory term and exposes the racist viewpoint of those inside the ‘white houses.’
