16 pages • 32 minutes read
& even the black guy’s profile reads 'sorry, no black guys'
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Themes
Intersection of Racial Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity
The intersection of multiple identities is introduced as early as the title in Danez Smith’s “& even the black guy’s profile reads ‘sorry, no black guys.’” In the poem, the narrator articulates the ways that a gay Black man’s sense of self is complicated by masculinity and sexuality. This theme is central to the poem’s message to the reader: these traits–Blackness, gayness, and masculinity–are “lovable” (Line 5) rather than things to be rejected.
Neither homophobia nor racism are directly named in the poem, yet they are critical aspects of both the narrator’s and the subject’s identities, as made clear by the multiple metaphors Smith uses to explore internalized self-hatred. The Black man whose profile rejects other Black man, in Smith’s eyes, looks “in the mirror” (Line 3) to “see a man you refuse to love” (Line 3). This rejection of the self, for Smith, is specifically caused by racism and homophobia, which starts early in childhood; the subject dreams “of soap suds & milk” (Line 4) as a child. In other words, even as children, Black boys (and especially queer or gay ones) are taught to think of themselves as dirty. Clorox, a bleaching cleaning product, is specifically used to scrub and whiten surfaces, while "milk" (Line 4) also evokes pure white imagery.
In the concluding lines of the poem, Smith reveals their perspective on the subject of the poem, who should begin seeing themselves as “beautiful & / lovable & black & enough” (Lines 4-5). The listing of these positive self-beliefs is an antidote to the negative messages society has about Blackness, about Black men, and about homosexuality.
Relationships as a Vehicle for Hurt or Healing
Often Danez Smith’s poetic works center on relationships between people, and specifically between gay Black men; in “& even the black guy’s profile,” relationships are portrayed as a site of tension. One critical aspect of the poem's relationships is that they are something that the individual must first face themselves. In other words, without doing internal reflection and healing, the individual cannot enter into a relationship fully.
The individual focus of “& even the black guy’s profile” is highlighted by the “tulip” (Line 1) in the opening scene as well as in the solitary “man” (Line 3), “small child” (Line 3), and use of the phrase “no one” (Line 4). There are no couples, not even a pair of people on a first date, in this poem; instead, there is only the solitary “you” (Line 4) and the solitary “i” (Line 5) of the narrator. This focus on the individual is further emphasized by the “black guys” (Title) who are rejected in the poem’s title. By placing the source of the subject’s rejection in opposition to the subject’s actual self-loathing, Smith further centers the need for individual healing before romantic relationship.
The idea of being “enough” (Line 5) also reflects the thematic underpinning of relationships as being a possible source of healing. All the preceding images in the poem have presented the idea that the subject of the poem does not perceive themselves as valuable or worthy; the narrator’s concluding idea that the subject is “black & enough” (Line 5) is a critical moment in the poem where Smith is explicitly stating the answer to the question the poem asks. If the Black man in the title refuses “to love” (Line 3) himself or other Black men, he must first believe he is already “enough” (Line 5) before he can healthily engage in a relationship with someone else. This is further emphasized by the proximity of “you” (Line 5) to “i” (Line 5) in the final lines; that is, the narrator and subject are brought closest, or into relationship, by the idea of being “lovable” (Line 5) individually.
The Impact of Harm in Childhood
Many of the events in “& even the black guy’s profile” stem from societal beliefs and values that devalue the Black body and experience, and which is rooted in the violence of white supremacy. Internalized racism and homophobia have lasting health impacts, both physical and psychological. While Smith’s poem mainly centers on adult content, like online dating and “longing” (Line 2), the inclusion of an image of a child reveals a thematic gesture towards the ways that oppression impacts even the youngest in U.S. society and alters their life’s course and self-worth.
In a critical turn of the poem, Smith uses what seems to almost be a non sequitur to describe a “small child sleeping / near Clorox” (Lines 3-4). In this one simple scene, Smith challenges readers to understand the subject of the poem differently; this is not just a poem about a self-hating man who is struggling to date in adulthood, this is instead a reckoning with a lifetime of self-hatred, with the seeds of rejection planted early in childhood with dreams of bleach and “milk” (Line 3), as in whiteness. While this is only one moment in a complex poem, it is important that Smith includes the “small child” (Line 3) in the narrative; this image both builds the reader’s empathy towards the person holding their self-loathing and expands Smith's argument about the insidious impacts of racism on the Black psyche.
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By Danez Smith
