As race relations were once, and still are to some extent, a vital part of this country's history, it is only appropriate that authors speak out against it. Naomi Madgett does just that in "The Race Question." Through her use of metaphoric synesthetic images, Madgett describes the plight of racism, and jabs at those who allow it to perpetuate.
             In her opening stanza, Madgett presents two metaphoric images that give the reader insight into her mind. She intends the first two images to create guilt for the "one" mentioned in the subtitle. The necklace she mentions is a striking image. The synesthaesia involved creates a lasting impression in the reader's mind. The image also illustrates a vivid point of the poem. The speaker, presumably Madgett, is speaking about how her pain, and her tears, have allowed for the prosperity of her oppressors. These same people have created the necklace, symbolic of success and fame, at the expense of the tears, sadness, and miserable existence of the speaker, and the entire black community. The next image is much along the same lines as the first. This time, however, the speaker is referencing the black community's ignored protests against and entrapped existence inside of the arbitrary social blockades erected by segregation's supporters. The "gift" will no doubt create a feeling of guilt in the minds of the poem's intended audience. Madgett's sardonic use of the word truly drives her meaning forward, which is further developed in the third stanza.
             The second stanza shows that the speaker is not only concerned with rage. She also relies on hope for her livelihood. In the first line of the stanza, she refers to her "Otherness:" another quick biting remark, reflecting her status to the whites, before moving on to her main purpose of the stanza. In her silencing of the drums, Madgett implies that she i
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