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You And Your Whole Race By Langston Hughes

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Recommended: An Analysis of a Langston Hughes Poem Essay

The Route To Equailty
The poem chosen was "You and Your Whole Race," written by the famous poet Langston Hughes. Its core issue is economic status injustice, strongly connected with racial differences and a lack of empathy for the suffering of individuals from varied origins. The poem employs vivid imagery that has been deliberately chosen to depict the obvious differences on the way to equality, with each image bringing to life key lines and overall themes within the poems. It emphasizes the striking contrast and dramatic comparison between oppressed and oppressor, wealthy and underprivileged, creating strong emotions in favor of its primary foundation. The use of this emotional imagery conveys the concept that the racial divide has been …show more content…

The first picture depicts a tense situation reflective of the Rodney King riots, where multiple people of color standing out of the building that caught witnesses of the fire and mainly ladies holding children, staring gravely at the camera in the 1990s that echoing the opening words of Langston Hughes' poem: "You and your whole race./Look down upon the town in which you live/And be ashamed" (Hughes 1-3). The poem's racial topic is reinforced by this striking image, which depicts the African American community's battle against white domination and the catastrophic effects of such conflicts. The shot effectively depicts how African Americans endure …show more content…

The carefully chosen images in the poem paint a vivid picture of the societal disparities that exist, laying bare the pressing issues of injustice and inequality. With each image, Hughes skillfully highlights the harsh realities faced by different groups, making it impossible to ignore the disparities in society.The poem serves as a reminder that compassion and understanding are essential qualities to bridge the divide that exists between various racial and socioeconomic groups. It urges us to confront these issues head-on and work towards building a more empathetic and just society for everyone.The poem refers to the empowerment that comes with accepting change and enabling ourselves and others to contribute to the creation of a caring society. It highlights the possibility for transformation, not just for abstract ideas, but also for improving people's

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An Annotated Bibliography: Langstone Hughes Dawahare, Anthony. “Langston Hughes’s Radical Poetry and the "End of Race." ” Melus, vol. 23, no. 3, 1998, p. 21., doi:10.2307/467676.

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The purpose of “Why, You Reckon?” by Langston Hughes is to accurately display, through the times of that century and human emotion, that despite money, power, and the color of your skin there can still be an unhappiness of the soul. There is evidence in the beginning of the short story of two men’s unhappiness in life the symbol of them being uncontent was their hunger. “Man, ain’t you hongry.... Well, sir, I’m tellin’ you, I was so tired and hongry and cold that night.” (253- 254).

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In addition, the parallels present in the history of past Africans and African Americans with modern African Americans further enhances this unity under one connected heritage. This poem was created in the 1920s, an era of racial tension and discrimination, so the personified narrator also assisted in highlighting unity among the African Americans of the era of segregation. Langston Hughes successfully crafted a poem that unifies modern African Americans with their ancestors under one heritage and

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911 Words | 4 Pages

In How It Feels To Be Colored Me by Zora Neal Hurston well as in The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr both authors convey what it feels like to be face with race issues. The two essays shed light on the social issues in different ways. The essays show the struggles of life when those around the two authors do not fully grasp the concept. Both Hertz and King use tone, their audience, and point of view to get their point across with the goal of bringing a better understanding to their audience.

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697 Words | 3 Pages

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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3318 Words | 14 Pages

Instead of saying “We are all humans” as Hughes did in the story, in this poem, he has a more modest but no less veritable pronouncement: we are all Americans. The poem smacks with pride – and rightfully so – as much as it flowers with confidence and firmness. With the bold statements captured in this poem, Hughes was able to assert the face of the Black American and hoped, if not foretold a future when they, the “darker brother,” and their “whiter” brothers we can presume they have, will be under a single name: all as

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1073 Words | 5 Pages

During the film, the director includes clips and photos of violent events to show the torture African Americans went through. Raw footage of lynchings and abuse were shown to connect to viewers’ emotions. These graphics successfully portray the suffering people went through rather than only hearing about it. The pain and heartache viewers feel supports the argument because it creates a sense of sorrow for how horrifically these people were treated compared to the privileges we have now. Although Americans have more freedom now than years prior, racial discrimination is ongoing.

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1367 Words | 6 Pages

This piece connects and alludes to Langston Hughes excerpts of his life in the north to help us understand what life was like for those outside of the south as they experienced discrimination in the

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1683 Words | 7 Pages

The poem Langston Hughes wrote in 1936 called “Let America be America again”. Langston Hughes an afro American in the United States of America. Langston Hughes' philosophical idea was equality in the United States of America. The first way Langston Hughes shows his philosophical idea of equality is by showing he wants everyone to be treated fairly and have the government not allow people to be racist to the Afro-Americans, Indians, and other immigrants located in the United States of America. The second way Langston Hughes shows his philosophical idea of equality is by showing his desire and dedication towards of achieving equality and shows off his dedication of hard work to achieve his dream but can’t due to of the barriers he has to overcome

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435 Words | 2 Pages

This sets the mood as a depressing type of mood. Later in the poem, the same tone and theme show up again and again. Hughes speaks about people that are poor, people of color, and overall people not having a fair life. Later he strengthens this statement by saying, “I am the man who never got ahead, the poorest

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835 Words | 4 Pages

In the poem "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes paints a vivid word picture of a depressed America in the 1930's. In this poetic expression, a speaker is allowed to say what he wants for America to be America, what is that we don't have that high gas prices. I think that I would change, that people who aren't working should not get any money from the state, freedom is a privilege instead of the state giving it for free. My brother is epileptic and he works so how come everybody in the world wants something for free. I learned over two years that everything is the same in Germany as in America sure we speak different we have different opinions about something, but we are still the person who we want to be is our decision about how we want to live our lives.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

This provides the reader with the ultimate message of the poem that Langston Hughes tries to get to the world. Langston Hughes claims that “There’s never been equality” in America, that it lacks freedom in this so-called homeland of the free (Hughes, Line 16). This goes back to Hughes' message on how African Americans had endured inequality by Hughes telling that they never had equality. The use of connotations in the poem allows readers to hold the feeling of appeal to the poem and to add more personal feelings to words. The topic that African Americans do not have equality affects readers by making them reflect on how lucky they do not have to deal with inequality.

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696 Words | 3 Pages

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

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460 Words | 2 Pages

Briley Stovall Ms.Fly Language 17 january 2023 “Thank You Ma’am” RTL “Thank You Ma’am” is a short story by Langston Hughes. This short story is about a boy named Roger getting a second chance in life by Mrs.Luella Bates Washington Jones. One really late night Roger tried to steal Mrs.Jones’s purse but instead Mrs.Jones. Teaches him a lesson and gives him a second chance so he can turn his life around and not to steal again.

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The quote continues to support Mandela’s words by suggesting that courage can triumph over the fear of challenges. As he goes on in the poem he continues to say, “Then let us hurry, comrades, The road to find” (10). These words are a call to action for African Americans to join the fight for civil rights. The action of fighting against what they feared with courage and bravery shows success as mentioned in Mandela’s quote. Despite the fear that may consume Hughes and many other African Americans during this time, it is vital to recognize how the fear turned into fuel to drive the civil rights movement.

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