Walt Whitman wrote the poem “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors” in 1891 as part of now famous collection of poems called “Leaves of Grass.” Whitman him self is deemed one of the greatest American poets of all time for his one of kind writing style and unique take on humanism. The poem “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors is about an African American woman standing aside on a dirt road watching Sherman’s troop’s march through the Carolina’s and how the men marching take notice of the women and her multicolor turban.

            Even though Whiteman is regarded as one the greats of poetry, he has been though criticized for not incorporating or giving due credit towards African Americans for their contributions towards the war effort. The race theory comes into account, which deals with a number of racial subject matter such as social sciences, cultural nationalism, and racism. Cultural nationalism pertains to this specific poem, because in the poem the black women is watching the troops and I think is perceived as a source of purpose and inspiration for the men marching recognizing that they are fighting for the greater good. The turban decorated in the colors of her home country could be viewed as a symbol that even though her origin is from another land the war that is being fought is to allow all people to live equal and free in America.

I think even though Whitman is somewhat criticized for not incorporating African Americans more in his poetry he mostly exclusively wrote about his own experience especially about the war. So it may be the case that he hadn’t had the opportunity to come across many instances where black people were directly involved with the war effort. The criticism of Whitman is justified at the same time, because African Americans played a large role during that period in history when the country was divided by war. The poem itself has also been criticized in some accounts, because of lack quality compared to other of Whiteman’s works, supporting the fact that Whitman may have not given black people in the war due credit.