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Why Is Langston Hughes Considered To Be An African American?

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Being born and raised as an American is viewed as a privilege with a field of opportunities, but they do not see the side of discrimination and unequalness. Langston Hughes was an African American who grew up in the states and experienced firsthand the opportunities and rights he was denied simply due to his race. He felt refutation in his country when others who contributed equally as much were receiving a much better deal. America's history of inequity and prejudice needs to be modernized and every citizen should feel that they have a voice as they are as equal as their neighbor.
America is one of the most versatile countries when considering the number of different ethnicities and cultures being practiced. However, this does not grant anyone …show more content…

This ensures that one day, African Americans will be treated with the admiration they have fought to earn. Hughes is prideful and embraces his true self in which his heritage is a vital factor. He knows that although his race slows him down in many aspects, he is just as capable of doing something excellent as a white person. Even after the centuries of America's racist past, he advises African Americans to keep their head held high and form thick skin as that is the only way they will conquer the unfair treatment they will be forced with. "Tomorrow, I'll be at the table, When company comes," showing his confidence and positivity for what the future holds (Hughes, 8/9/10). Keeping his confidence allowed him to become who he is today and look past the negativity he was continuously …show more content…

Many Americans long ago grew up on the belief that African Americans were inferior and incapable of completing a level of greatness that only white people could achieve. Of course, as time progressed, this belief became belittled as capable black Americans have made history and achieved astonishing new levels. Langston Hughes said "They'll see how beautiful I am, And be ashamed, I, too, am America," as a way of saying one day everyone will see his excellence and be embarrassed they ever doubted him (Hughes, 16/17/18). He is just as equally an American as those of a lighter skin color and it does not take any of his greatness away from him. The last line signifies his certainty that he is a part of this country by expressing it as a

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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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He goes on to talk about certain jobs people do in America. The images he puts in the reader’s mind all have a negative connotation: “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the negro bearing slavery scars…”. He goes on to show everything bad with America, and how it is not free at all. Hughes is adamant about the poor nature in which Americans are treated to. He uses imagery of what people actually do in America to show how harsh it truly is.

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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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247 Words | 1 Pages

Langston Hughes he feel negative about the America. He make this poem sound very emotional for the read people. In the poem he alway repeat “I never was America to me”. He wants his land be a liberty, opportunity and equality for his land he live in. But he has never experienced freedom in America.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

In just two simple but profound lines he manages to capture the African American experience in to a tee; he writes “There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this "homeland of the free (Hughes).”The civil rights movement, also known as the “black power era;” was a success legislatively, but not so much socially. During this time, a series of amendments were passed to ensure all American citizens had access to the same freedoms. “Civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring about change, and the federal government made

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922 Words | 4 Pages

America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.

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1040 Words | 5 Pages

He notes, "America never was America to me / And yet I swear this oath— / America will be!" The promise that America would be a nation of freedom and opportunity has proven to be a hollow one for many descendants of African Americans who were held in slavery. Our society has been deeply impacted by the legacies of slavery and institutionalized racism, and seeking reparations is an essential first step in ending these persistent injustices. As Hughes expresses, "O, let America be America again— / The land that never has been yet— /

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Many of the people mentioned in the poem are born Americans getting treated differently as stated in (stanza 8) “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.” Where there is no freedom, no equity, and prosperity at the cost of countless people being left behind, can’t be the dream they hope to perceive. Hughes stands on that America never was America to me put insight that he was never at peace with America, at least not the way he picture it.

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The speaker constantly talks in the future tense. He will say things like, “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table,” (Hughes 7-8), which communicates that he understands that one day he will be able to sit and enjoy a meal amongst others without being looked down upon as a lower figure of society. Despite being sent away so many times in his life, the speaker never staggers on believing he belongs with the others. Given the time period, this is a high achievement. For many centuries, it was believed African Americans were a lower part of society, and even those individuals believed it, but Hughes ensured his speaker was more strong-willed than that.

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Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d’Arc, is a heroin from medieval France who was instrumental in Frances victory over English invasion. She believed that God was instructing her to lead the French army in victory against the English in order for France to be united under the rule of a French king. However, after the French king was crowned, Joan was arrested by the English and tried by the church for witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man. The importance placed upon Joan dressing in masculine attire during her trial is indicative of the threat she posed to the Church of England. The church’s influence on society in medieval England is showcased in Joan’s trial through her refusal to accept their authority as higher than the voices she hears.

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There were many tribulations that Black Americans had to overcome in order for them to get their natural rights, and it took a long time before they had the chance to make big marks in the media. When that change finally happened, there were still bigoted people who thought that equal rights were wrong and that discrimination was ok. One successful African American poet, Langston Hughes, didn’t let disapproval stop him. In an excerpt from The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, he said, “If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter.

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This viewpoint is very confident for the future and seems to allude to Hughes knowing that one day African Americans will be seen as equal to everyone else. Maya Angelou also has a well-known poem titled “Still I Rise” in which she talks about how even with everything going against her and all African Americans, they still overcome it all and stand strong. This poem is confident as well, but in a different way than Hughes’s poem. Hughes’s poem is confident that people will one day see him for who he is, but Angelou’s poem is confident because it accuses

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997 Words | 4 Pages

In the poem, Langston Hughes outlines the African American, as not being recognized as having a place within society, and being an oppressed group of people. This is shown in the first line of the poem when he says “I, too, sing America. ”(Hughes, 1) By saying, “I, too, sing America,”(Hughes, 1) the audience can interpret that, Langston Hughes sees society as a choir, all ‘singing’ together. This is saying that he, is also part of that ‘choir,’ and has an equal voice within this society. The audience can also see how he is not equal, as he is

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858 Words | 4 Pages

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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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Sneakers are everyone's best friend. Its versatility brings both comfort and style for all its users. Most sneakers are unisex, as both women and men have no doubt in wearing them for almost all occasions. The major difference betwen men and women is the amount of the pairs of sneakers that they own. Men consider that having two pairs of sneakers is more than just enough.

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