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Open Letter To The South Essay

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Colossians 1:16-17 reads “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” In “Open Letter to the South” (1902-1967) written by Langston Hughes and the art piece “For Bread and Freedom all Workers Demonstrate.” (1929-1935) creator unknown associate skillfully together. The two pieces figuratively describe the inequality and injustices that the white and black community faced during a time when the two races could have been more influential together opposed to separate. Since day one of US history, there has been and will probably always be a social, economic, and racial divide. “Open Letter to The South” is a poem that addresses the issues of not only the racial division in this great country, but it also concentrates on the issues that all working class American’s face, even in today’s society and economy. In the poem, Langston Hughes speaks against the words of Booker T. Washington “Separate as the fingers.” He speaks about how whites and blacks should come together and become one, no matter their birth rights or history. He mentions …show more content…

The beginning of the poem implies the land, mines, office towers, and factories belong to the rich, but the end of the poem implies all these things belong to the American people as a whole. The most obvious display of repetition is at the beginning and end of the poem. In the beginning of the poem, it says, “That the land might be ours, And the mines and factories and the office towers” (Lines 14 and 15). It goes on to say “That the plants and the roads and the tools of power be ours” (Line 17). The second example of this repetition is at the end of the poem, “Takes land, Takes factories, Takes office towers, Takes tools and banks and mines” (Lines 58-61). Langston Hughes used this device because repetition shows emphasis of an idea or feeling, and most of all it develops a sense of

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