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How Did Langston Hughes Write About African American Struggles

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African American Struggles in Langston Hughes’ Poems
Langstone Hughes is one of the many African American poets who was influenced by racism and conflict. He was also influenced by personal experiences and those of his family as he grew up. His father disowned the family and went to Mexico to avoid the racist interactions and conflicts that frequently came up (Britannica 1-3). It is these conflicts and struggles that were found to influence and inform many of the poems and materials that he did. As a result, man of his poems and materials have struggles and death as major themes, and in these cases, they are structured around the lives of African Americans in their country. These themes also come out in poems such as Let America be America …show more content…

“Ain’t got nobody in all this world/ Ain’t got nobody but ma self/ I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’/And put ma troubles on the shelf/ While the Weary Blues echoed through his head/ He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead” (Hughes, The Weary Blues 19 – 22, 34-35). According to Hughes, the struggles of an African American person are his to carry alone, that is how they have been perceived. There is a notable absence of community interaction and support in the poems, which highly conflicts with the image witnessed and understood in the actual African America community. This is even more evident in Let America be America Again, where he appears to not draw a line between people of different races, and as such, he seeks to show that many people, of different races are suffering and have suffered from the situation in America. He suggests that there are many people from different races who suffer and toil and are not regarded as humans, or people of naught in the community. Instead, there is difference only between the mighty and the weak. “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart/ I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars/ I am the red man driven from the land/ I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek —/ And finding only the same old stupid plan/ Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak” (Hughes, Let America be America …show more content…

In Birmingham Sunday (September 15, 1963) Hughes expresses his thoughts and emotions on “four little girls/ Who went to Sunday School that day/ And never came back home at all” (Hughes, Birmingham Sunday (September 15, 1963) 1-3). The imagery that is shown throughout the poem sets the tone of compassion and justice. Hughes involvement with what was going on in his community allowed him to be a literary activist for events: Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, Jazz, and education. I, Too is written in hopes of a better life for African Americans “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at the table/ When Company Comes.” “Nobody’ll dare/ Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen.”.” Hughes use of “Tomorrow” indicates what is yet to come for those who have had to struggle and have been discriminated against because of the color of their

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***Racial equality has positively enhanced the social status of African Americans in the United States. In the poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes, he wrote about the frustrations of the black man in his poetry. He never gave up because he saw America in which black and white men would eat at the same table and be considered equal. In the 2nd stanza, he uses metaphors such as “the darker brother” to refer to the black man. Sadly, during that time Hughes was writing, the black man was not equal to others.

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Hughes uses the inequality that still stands in the “free” America to voice that everyone should be equal. Hughes uses various allusions to portray the didactic meaning of the poem that the statements of a free America for everyone, is far from the truth. Making allusions to certain instances, in African American history provided a way for Hughes’ audience to understand his underlying thought. Throughout the formation of the America today, African Americans have been discriminated starting from their beginning as slaves. Hughes describes African Americans during this time period as, “the Negro(s) bearing slavery’s scars.

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Where he “Bathed in the Euphrates,” built his “hut near the Congo,” “Looked upon the Nile,” and “Heard the singing of the Mississippi,”. Secondly you read “I, Too” and as you read you can see that hughes is still speaking in the tone of an African American but is in the phase of being a slave. For they send him “to eat in the kitchen When company comes,” since slaves were never given to the privilege to eat at the table. They were to just work and stay low-key. But the slave knows that one day they will no longer be oppressed and will “be at the table When company comes.”

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The personal and social politics of racial identity in America are extremely complex as there are many intersections to the African American experience through history. I will be exploring these nuances through poems from the Harlem Renaissance including, ‘Heritage’ by Gwendolyn Bennett, ‘Bottled’ by Helen Johnson and ‘Let America be America Again’ by Langston Hughes. Exploring these poems will allow me to contextualise them with the wider Harlem Renaissance and with the position of Black people in America at the time, I will also explore this using Frederick Douglass’ ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ giving a breadth of time to explore the African American experience with its similarities and differences in how white America perceives

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The poems, “Let America be American Again” by Langston Hughes, “So Mexicans are taking Jobs from Americans” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and “Queer Theory: According to My Grandmother” by Richard Blanco discuss just a few of these issues. All three of these poems point out the “flaws” in society today and in the past. The poem “Let America be American Again” by Langston Hughes is about freedom and equality within the United States.

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Dunbar digs deeper into the issue by claiming that most of the population at the time was hiding behind religion to avoid confronting the issues of inequality. In addition, the speaker accuses the African American population of misleading the rest of the population about their actual feelings. Langston Hughes’ poem has a more melancholic tone. Hughes wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” twenty-five years after Dunbar’s poem was written. Hughes’ poem uses a different approach to address the African American issues of the time.

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Hughes uses a metaphor in the following line: "Freedom is a strong seed planted in a great need" (842). This line refers to the potential of this seed to grow and it is in high demand. It can be argued that "Freedom" isn 't specifically speaking towards the obstacles of African Americans because of its general message of attaining freedom can be applied to many minority groups; Considering the issues plaguing and directly targeting the black community, there is no question as to if it applies, though. Just as Hughes says in "I, Too," he states, America is his country, too; He is just as American as those that benefit from his oppression, and one day they will realize that the amount of pigment in his skin does not correlate to his humanity. McKay 's and Hughes 's writing served as a socially motivated voice for justice.

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Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is an excellent example of how he eschewed European tradition when it came to his writing in order to reflect the cultural importance and history of black people. The author’s application of symbolism, imagery, and tone within his poem serve to reinforce within readers the understanding of the strength and resilience of black people. In the first

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Hughes begins the poem declaring, “I, too sing America. I am the darker brother” (Poets.org) indicating that singing was a part of his voice to bring freedom to African Americans. However, when another skin color visits the plantation, he was dismissed from their presence and was sent to eat in the kitchen. Hughes did not let the racial profiling get the best of him. He says, “But I laugh, eat well, and grow stronger tomorrow” (Poets.org).

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(Hughes) This speaks of how the black person felt they were still being treated and how they were continually being treated specially during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s. Unfortunately, today black people are not treated much better and still have to face prejudice. There is a parallel how the blacks were viewed as subservient, much like the soldiers were in Catch-22. Blacks and the soldiers were both told what to do and did not have the freedom to go wherever they wanted to without fear of punishment.

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In this poem, Hughes contrasts his hopes for America with the reality of life for those outside of the socially popular and economically dominant racial, religious, and social groups. Hughes evokes on the dreams of those who came to the America seeking a haven where they could would be safe from the persecution happening in their homelands - but those dreams of America have never come true. Hughes executes his theme of hope and protest through the use of personification, patriotic symbolism, and various tones throughout the

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During a time of racial oppression, Langston Hughes was a voice for African Americans suffering from discrimination. His many poems and short stories shined a light on the hardships of being black in America. His poem, “The South,” demonstrates his love/hate relationship with the South and how he wished to be accepted there. His use of personifying the South makes the poem even more influential to the American public. Hughes shows the injustices of racism through the literary devices he uses to portray the North and the South, and his writing drew attention to the problem.

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The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.

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In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.

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This is the message she wants every African-American child to hear and take to heart. Hughes uses diction, biblical allusions and metaphor to illustrate the theme of how African Americans should continue to strive for their rights and equality in the

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