Queens

Julia Alvarez’s poem “Queens, 1963” describes how her neighborhood consisted of many different ethnicities and languages. As the poem progresses we also see how the selling of a house to an African American family disrupted the neighborhood. The new family received criticism and was the subject of ridicule at the hands of almost everyone in the neighborhood. “Mrs. Bernstein said it was time the neighborhood opened up. As the first Jew on the block, she remembered the snubbing she got a few years back from Mrs. Scott”. The same individuals that shunned this African American family were also in the same position when they arrived to America, more distinctly, this neighborhood. Alvarez centers this poem during the early1960’s, when the civil rights movement was beginning. At this time African Americans were not treated equally and were frowned upon in society. This poem shows how America was still working on its ability to accept all races and colors. It also shows how America was filled with individuals who judged people that were in the same predicament that they were in at one time. Instead of helping to further progress society, their actions furthered any positive advancement.