Speaker
The speaker of the poem is not explicitly described in any way and thus is best understood not as a specific character. This person is instead a symbolic incarnation of a person of color in America. The poem begins with the assertion that a door has been shut in the speaker's face, thus depriving him, and this group, of opportunities offered to white people in America. The imagery of the shuttered door is thus a portrait of discrimination. The speaker becomes an anonymous representative of all non-Caucasian people living in America who must daily face the indignity of inequality.
In addition to not being described physically, the speaker is also not identified by gender. Because the poet is a man, it is natural to use masculine pronouns to refer to the speaker. The textual reality is that the speaker is a gender-neutral embodiment of both the rage their circumstances provoke and of the possibility of rejecting such prejudicial beliefs. In Line 7, the speaker ironically describes himself as a “chafing savage,” alluding to the debased image the white supremacist society has of him.
Although the reader is given few details about the speaker’s identity, the reader does see the speaker’s perspective. The speaker is both enraged at the discrimination he has endured, and determined to prevent that discrimination from emotionally destroying him. Throughout the poem, the speaker alternates between expressing the depths of his discontent and pain, and reaffirming his strength in the face of these difficulties.
"You"
Just as the speaker is a representative for a Black individual, the "you" in the poem is a stand-in for a member of the white-supremacist people in America. This anonymous "you" has shut the door firmly against the speaker, suggesting that they wish to exclude him from their home and community. This "you" is not one specific person, as Line 8 indicates. Having been turned away from one "white house," the speaker walks down a street filled with glass doors firmly closed against him. The speaker again remarks on how "your shuttered door" shines boldly. Thus, these other second-person figures are also part of the white-supremacist society that the poem critiques. Lines 12 and 14 expand on this second-person figure; this person both upholds racist laws and expresses hatred toward the speaker. This amorphous character is representative of all those who perpetuate racism in America.
