Symbol Analysis
The incident of "Incident" occurs when the speaker experiences a moment of hateful racism at the hands of another little boy—the "Baltimorean." We don't know anything about this fellow, except that a) he stares at the speaker, b) he sticks out his tongue at him, and c) he utters a racial epithet. We don't know anything about his life except for this. In this way, the young Baltimorean stands in for other prejudiced people, across Baltimore and across the nation. This moment is only the first in which the speaker, as an African American man, will have to face racism in his every day life. The Baltimorean (that little jerkface) becomes a symbol for prejudiced people everywhere.
- Lines 3-4: The speaker notices a little boy staring at him. We wonder why. Then we read on…
- Lines 5-8: The little boy, the Baltimorean, sticks out his tongue and calls the speaker a "n*****." It's a shocking moment; we sure weren't expecting the boy to spew a racist epithet. And it sure sounds like the speaker wasn't expecting it either.
- Lines 9-12: In these moments, the poem zooms out. The racist Baltimorean is no longer in the poem, but his words remain resonant with the speaker. All he remembers of his time in Baltimore is this incident on the bus.