Claude McKay’s chef-d’oeuvre poem, If We Must Die, touches on a wide array of themes originating from his personal experiences in the United States during the Harlem Renaissance period. If We Must Die was primarily a reaction to the 1919 widespread unwarranted hate towards African Americans. This hatred was expressed in the form of disparaging speeches and criminal activities, all targeting the black community in the United States at the time. Right from the opening of the poem, the speaker makes it clear that he and his “kinsmen” are living under constant threats and hatred that borders death. During the 1919 race riots, the hatred crossed the borders of death and caused unnecessary loss of lives, with the majority of the dead being African Americans. This paper builds an argument on McKay’s poem, If We Must Die, about race riots coupled with tensions between blacks and whites at the time. What is very interesting about McKay’s poem is the bestiality that turns into the humanity of the oppressed group. If this poem were to be viewed as a reaction to the race riots of 1919, the “hogs” could be likened to African Americans, which hints at the “beasts” they were innately believed to be. By using the simile “like hogs,” McKay seeks to distance himself and the black community at large from the wrong perception that they are hogs. It is only a perception that they are hogs, but in essence, they are simply likened to such dirty animals. Also, even if the blacks are likened to pigs, they certainly do not want to live that way. In the 1919 race riots, the blacks were being treated as pigs – as worthless creatures that do not deserve to live amongst ‘human beings.’ This assertion explains why after Eugene William’s was stoned to death, the police did not take any action against the perpetrators. On the contrary, they arrested a black person, which defies logic. McKay also plays upon these animals’ living conditions of being “penned” by stating that it is “inglorious” for such a thing to occur and hinting at self-respect and pride that seems excessive for a widely accepted practice. By 1919, the blacks were widely living like hogs under conditions that McKay describes. First, Africans were “hunted” from Africa and transported to the western world where they were “penned” in inglorious “spots” as slaves. They only fitted well in the ignominious “spot” of slavery. However, despite living in such conditions, the speaker acknowledges that blacks deserve to be accorded some sense of ‘humanity.’ If they must die, then it should not be like pigs. They need to die “nobly” without shedding their “precious blood.” After being hunted and penned, the blacks continued to suffer in the hands of their oppressors. They were being “barked” at because apparently, animals like the blacks could not take simple instructions. Another interesting term that is equated with the marginalized people is the “accursed lot,” which can be viewed as African Americans who are believed to be under the curse of Ham, which shows that the speaker is aware of the justification of his oppression. This assertion begs the question, why is it that only the blacks experienced all the aforementioned atrocities? The answer to this question lies in lin