Harlem Langston Hughes Analysis

Progress

It is undeniable that the history of African Americans is unlike that of any other race or social group in the United States. From the dawn of the Middle Passage, the position of blackness within civil society has been fundamentally and systemically disadvantaged, from laws denying a person’s right to education or housing, to microaggressions that many white folk make, even without meaning to. In the poem “Harlem,” by Langston Hughes, the idea of progress for the African American dream is analyzed with a pessimistic and melancholy tone, questioning the journey a dream may take, when it is denied fruition by white society. For this reason, “Harlem’s” analysis of blackness is one that analyses the way progress has happened for African

The United States is often touted as a land of endless possibility, creating the idea of the ‘American Dream,’ a perfect version of one’s life in which a person has both material wealth, as well as the ability to peruse whatever they wish in their life, while having the liberty to speak and act as they wish. The American Dream, however, is often only thought of in terms of its relation to white families and people. When the media or a book represents the American Dream, they often think of a large house in the suburbs surrounded by a white picket fence, often with an American Flag waving in the wind, and almost always depicting a happy family. This family, however, is almost always white. In “I Too,” Hughes describes this dream through the eyes of an African-American man, describing how “When company comes,” he is sent to the kitchen to eat. Hughes describes the dream of this man, which is evidently distinct from the traditional vision of the American Dream. The man in “I Too,” has a dream of being able to eat in the kitchen with the family, a dream that he hopes will one day come to fruition. For this man,

In dream variation, Hughes describes the dream of an African American, and the freedom that comes with progress. It is obvious that in history, violence has often been done to people of color, and as the man in the poem describes his actions, he seems to identify with things that are, “Black like me.” This man seems to see beauty and freedom in things that are dark, illustrating the dream of a world in which society could be equal for people of all races. This dream is obviously parallel with that of “Harlem,” believing that while it may be possible to dream, dreams often grow stale within an unequal