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Racism In Countee Cullen's I, Too, Sing America

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The poems “Incident” by Countee Cullen and “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes are both written by men of African heritage. Also, the two poems end quick but leave a heavy message. The poems exemplify by using racial terms against a person due to race and actions, such as forced to eating in the back of the kitchen when guest arrive can affect a person perception of themselves for a long period. Furthermore, both poems the reader can see that both authors believe that they are just like the next race and should not be treated different. For example, Cullen writes “he was no whit bigger” telling that they resembled in age and should have an automatic bond regardless of race. In the same way, Hughes writes “They’ll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed” revealing that different does not mean wrong and all types of people should be together to see the beauty within each other. …show more content…

Hughes expresses hope that one day the Caucasian race will see the beauty in him and regret their discourteous acts against the African American race or the darker brother. Next, Cullen states that the was traumatized by the downcast moment and all he could remember aver the other amazing moments of Baltimore was the white boy who was around his age. Furthermore, the tense of the poems is different. Cullen is speaking from the past, but Hughes is speaking in the present to the future. Hughes awareness of his skin color and discrimination is far more represented than Cullen’s. Cullen in the poem believed that a person within your age group would automatically give you respect but he was very alarmed by the actions the young boy took. Moreover, Hughes in the poem understands that discrimination can be shown throughout the Caucasian race by all ages, gender, and other

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Amara Crook Harmon—L202 Major Paper 3 Clever Title Countee Cullen’s “Incident” explores the concept of unprovoked and unwarranted racism through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. In his short yet powerful poem, Cullen uses a single incident in which a young boy “riding through old Baltimore” (1) is singled out and called the N-word by another very small child, despite having done or said nothing to offend the boy. Although this incident is clearly hurtful, why is this incident in particular so important?

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