"All Men Are Created Equal"

The fourth of July by Audre Lorde successfully reveals the ever-present and suffocating racial prejudices prominent during the 1940’s in American, specifically in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Lorde uses her strong and distinct tone, her word choice, particularly the usage of “white” and irony to not only horrify the reader as they view direct racism but to encourage a fight for equality.

Throughout this essay, narrated by 14-year-old Lorde, there is an overarching tone that flows throughout her pros. Although her story begins with a simple relaxed narrative, once the climax of the tale is reached a repressed rage and disgust shines through her words. This pinnacle of anger is truly revealed when the protagonist and her family is refused service in an ice cream shop in D.C. and Lorde leaves the store “quiet and outraged.” (242) Because the story is told from Lorde’s point of view, the readers, if having any empathy at all, will fill with rage themselves. The innocence of the narrator automatically gives the reader a need to protect them and defend this innocence, but in this climax that innocence starts to shatter, helping to make a more prominent mark on the reader. She leaves the store with an obvious confusion as to the injustice she was subject to, exclaiming that it “wasn’t right or fair!”(242) Of course racism is a pressing awful issue, but it means so much more when told from the perspective of an innocent narrator then by itself, especially when the reader feels that once innocent perspective transform into a tone filled with rage.

Lorde also uses plenty of useful adjectives throughout her essay, but the one word that holds the most power throughout is “white.” This originally simple adjective used to describe color becomes a character itself. Since racism is not a tangible enemy, this color takes on the persona of an antagonist to blame for injustice done to the family. Towards the beginning of the story the adjective “white” is glorified and idolized particularly when she describes the month of July as a “dazzling white.”(241) But after the display of blatant and cruel racism in the ice cream shop, Lorde’s view on this once magical color is reversed. It starts to represent everything in the world she either cannot have or cannot be, saying “the waitress was white and the counter was white and the ice cream I never ate in Washington, D.C., that summer I left childhood was white, and the white heat and the white pavement and the white stones.”(242) Lorde used her skillful writing to transform this harmless adjective into one filled with loaded symbolism of racism in America and the restrictions it brings.

Another common device that Lorde adapts to connect and influence the reader is irony. The irony in her story lies in the setting itself, Washington D.C., a city which is usually represented by ideas of “freedom and democracy,” is shown containing hateful and disgusting racism. (242) The government buildings that this city holds and the history of the city itself define its reputation as a symbol for hope and justice. This idea of this perfect city is then shattered due to the obvious racial prejudices which Lorde and her family experience. Even in America’s “fabled and famous” capitol, a supposed beacon of equality, injustices are being executed onto the innocent. (239)

Lorde gives a shocking and horrifying first hand telling of racism, but the most fascinating part of her essay is how she does so. Her use of effective techniques like tone, word choice and irony pushes her simple narrative to a story that fills readers with strong emotions and gives them a desire for change.