We Are Not Responsible

“We Are Not Responsible” by Harryette Mullen was published in her 2002 book Sleeping with the Dictionary—her fifth collection of poetry. By the end of 2021, Mullen has published nine books of poetry and contributed to other multi-author collections. Sleeping with the Dictionary was a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. “We Are Not Responsible” is a parody of airplane travel warnings, a form of Oulipo or Language poetry that examines the themes of systemic racism, the process of othering, and the growth of the police state.

Poet Biography

Harryette Mullen was born in 1953 in Florence, Alabama and was raised as the child of divorced parents in Fort Worth, Texas. Her family’s move from Pennsylvania to first Alabama, then Texas, created a language gap between the poet and her peers, as a result of her unfamiliarity with African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—especially southern AAVE. This distinction influenced Mullen’s views on language and poetry.

Mullen graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English in 1975, and completed her Ph.D. at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1990. Before moving to California, she was part of the Artists in Schools program created by the Texas Commission on the Arts. She taught as a faculty fellow at Cornell University for six years, and was a Rockefeller fellow at the University of Rochester. Mullen is currently a Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her first book of poetry, Tree Tall Women, was published in 1981. In addition to poetry, she has published a collection of essays and interviews. Her work has garnered acclaim over the years. Mullen’s 2006 book Recyclopedia—a recombination of books she published in the 1990s—won a PEN Beyond Margins Award. She was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2004. In 2008, she received a United States Arts Fellowship; in 2009, she received the Academy of American Poets Fellowship; in 2010, she received a Jackson Poetry Prize.

Poem Text

Mullen, Harryette. “We Are Not Responsible.” 2002. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“We Are Not Responsible” was originally published as a prose poem in Sleeping with the Dictionary, but has been republished on websites like the Poetry Foundation as a poem with 21 lines in five stanzas. It is a parody of the warnings issued during air travel and regularly seen on many contemporary products. Mullen rephrases these warnings to speak to the theme of systemic racism.

The first four sentences in the prose poem—given their own stanza in the lineated version—are statements about how the first-person speaker, the “we” of the poem, is not responsible for righting injustices and helping those in need. Such injustices include theft, but of people instead of possessions, referring to the slave trade. The authoritative first-person plural “we” does not ensure the safety of people who don’t follow instructions, and can refuse to help whoever it wants. Also, it does not support people who must ask for charity.

The next three sentences in the poem (or second stanza of the lineated version) switches a few key words in familiar phrases about tickets, carry-on luggage, and smoking. The audience addressed in the poem, the passenger referred to as “you,” is told their reservations may not be honored even if they have a ticket. Instead of limiting carry-on luggage, the audience is asked to limit “carrying on” (Line 6), or acting emotionally. Rather than extinguishing cigarettes, passengers are asked to “extinguish” their “smoldering resentments” (Line 7).

The next four sentences—or third stanza—are statements about causality. Not being able to “understand English” (Line 8) will result in being pushed out of the way to allow those who speak English to pass. If a loss (like the one in the first line) occurs, the audience must “look out for” (Line 9) themself, instead of reaching out to an authority for assistance. The audience’s insurance is canceled due to the company’s inability to provide restitution for “frightful claims” (Line 11). Blame for losing luggage is placed on the handlers, rather than on the system. Also, the “key to [any] legal case” (Line 12) is missing.

In the next four sentences, or fourth stanza, law enforcement becomes involved. The second person “you” fits a profile, and is thus “detained for interrogation” (Line 13). The presumption of innocence does not apply to the people of whom the police are suspicious. The speaker claims no responsibility for judging people based on skin color, and do not feel obligated to inform the audience of their rights.

The final three sentences—or fifth stanza—returns to the idea that the audience should not be outraged that their rights are being violated. The law enforcement officer inspects a stereotype: a “bad attitude” (Line 18). The speaker does not believe they have to respect the rights of the passenger. The “you” of the poem is warned that if they do not remain calm, the authorities will not be held responsible for their actions.