As a mixed-race child living in the early 1900s, Langston Hughes well-understood but was determined to overcome the oppression of racial prejudice. Despite the hindrances that Hughes faced due to racism, he made many achievements and is a recognized literary figure. Given his first-hand experience, and knowing how countless others struggled, the impact of discrimination was drawn into Hughes’ writing. Through the motifs of light, dark, and dreams, Hughes conveys the difficulty that he as well as other black people faced when striving for their dreams, yet also his hope that they would overcome obstacles to succeed. While considered as a black person, Langston Hughes was not purely African. He himself stated that, “...unfortunately I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family...In Africa, the word [Negro] is more pure. It means all Negro, therefore black. I am brown” (qtd. in “Racial Background”). Hughes was not ashamed to have Jewish, French, Native American, and African blood. Born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes was raised during a time where the entire world was hostile toward him, despite being partly white. Though he had lighter skin than full-blooded African Americans, Hughes faced just as much discrimination. As a high school student, writing became …show more content…
In this poem Hughes confidently states that black people can walk with the sun and morning, which are luminous and radiant. As walkers with the sun and morning, they can be at the same level as white people. They are not afraid of night or darkness, which represent how black people—literally “dark”—are held back from their dreams by discrimination. Hughes declares that black people should freely pursue whatever they desire without fear of oppression, because they are capable of accomplishing