Browse Items (55 total)

In this short story, an American soldier named Taylor is shot and killed after enduring torture in an unspecified Asian POW camp. Taylor is reincarnated multiple times before the story of his shooting is told, in which a military commander named…

The narrator of this poem expresses his identity as part of a "colossal being" of black people, preferring the collective 'we' to the singular 'I.' He explores slavery as "the torture that was endured for years and still / Silently exists today"…

This essay, written by freshman John E. Donaldson, was the opening piece in the Fall 1957 edition of The Messenger. In it, Donaldson describes his hesitance toward forced integration. He begins his argument by asserting that he is "not defending the…

In this play by the Messenger’s then-editor-in-chief, Louise Dinwiddie, two Englishmen are traveling in “the Orient” in a search for collectables. One, Jade, sees China as a beautiful and mysterious location, while the other, Michael, complains about…

This essay was written by University of Richmond student, Richard Cook, who chastises the university for its continuation of its segregation policy. Cook's main argument is that while the university prides itself on being an advanced forward-looking…

In this short story, a woman named Rebecca reflects on her new life in Africa while hitchhiking with a man named Jeff, who is described as "weather-tanned." His race is not identified. After he stops on the side of the road, he begins to make…

This short story takes place in Guatemala and explains the folktale of esperanza, or hope. A boy named Miguelito first discovers an esperanza bug, then accidentally kills it while fighting his older brother. However, nobody seems to care as much as…

This short story was written by student Yeu Chor Chan from Hong Kong. This story was his first publication in English. In it, he describes a peaceful scene by a lake (possibly Westhampton Lake, as a "brick bell tower" is to the left of the narrator…

This comedic map of the University of Richmond campus features racist jokes. One can be seen in the captions around the gym, called "Jim," which refer to black athletic trainer Esau Brooks as "the Indian rubber man." Running to the gym is an "Indian…

This poem reinforces ideas of hopelessness and permanence, repeating many lines and ultimately lamenting, "but you are trapped, hung in one spot / dangling over water, lost / to one world, lost in the other[.]" "Bugger" is a homophobic slang term.…