How To Racism In Langston Hughes's Poem

918 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Harlem langston hughes poem meaning

Langston Hughes Mr. Langston Hughes was born in the state of Missouri in 1902. He was an accomplished writer at a young age, and a bit of a world traveler. Many would have to think it was because he was abandoned by his parents at a young age, which made him strive for more. Langston wrote many poems regarding black people in America, and the racism he experienced. He describes too many of his readers that he didn’t agree with racism, but he adapted to it if he had too. My goal in this paper is to show the readers how Langston’s poems are connected to the racism he faced every day, and the struggles he had to overcome to achieve the American Dream. In the poem “Harlem” Hughes discusses what happens to one person’s dream of becoming successful. He was disheartened how slow slavery to equality was progressing. In the poem he lets the readers know he believes in America, even though he was an African American, and being discriminated against. Hughes tells the readers he was sent to the kitchen to eat. That is giving the readers a sign that there is segregation. However, he also lets the readers know that he is okay with it, he laughs it off, and he knows that situation will make him stronger. In the next stanza he lets us know that it won’t always be like, and he will one day get to eat with everyone else, and will not be sent to the kitchen. In the same stanza Hughes tells the readers once the racist realize what they did, they will be regretful. In Bouchard literary analysis she states that “He is confident that someday people will see how “beautiful” he is and be ashamed of their previous prejudice” (no page). The greatest meaning Hughes tells the readers in this poem is that he is hopeful even though he is facing adversity with In this poem he discusses how the instructor gives him an assignment to write about what is true to him. Hughes tells the readers that he can write the paper, but his truth isn’t going to be his instructor’s or his classmates’ truth. He tells the readers he’s the only African American in the classroom. He indicates to his readers that the people in his class, nor the instructor won’t be able to relate to his truth. Hughes mentions that the college is on a hill, which a symbolism for how he is looked down upon. Langton Hughes lets the readers know that he likes the same thing that other people like that are not of the same race, but to him that is America. He questions if his paper is going to be graded differently, because his truth is “Harlem”. The next stanza he mentions that even though that the instructor might grade his paper differently, he is still a part of his teacher, as his teacher is a part of him. To Hughes that’s what America is all about, without racism or segregation. In Zarlengo literary analysis she states “America, our narrator claims, is all of its parts. All of its parts are its people—you are America” (no page). This poem shows the reader that Hughes knows that even though he faces segregation every day, along with racism, he knows that one day it won’t always be like

Show More
Related

  • Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their

    Read More

  • Hughes, Lucille Clifton, And I, Too, By Langston Hughes

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes and Poetry

    2394 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “Harlem [Dream Deferred]” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Thesis

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hughes says, “They hung my black young lover / To a cross roads tree.” (3-4). One can see that the narrator, this young girl has just loss her lover. Her lover got lynched and this causes our reader to have a broken heart. One can see that due to society and racism

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Langston Hughes's The Tell-Tale Heart

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story leaves the reader contemplating and thinking with all the various figures of symbolism and hidden meanings, and especially the surprise at the end, when you think the narrator has gotten away with his crime. 4. In Langston Hughes' point of view “Themes for English B”, humans on a whole are separate, but yet equal; we all come from various parts of the world, and have different cultures. But despite all these discrepancies, we are all equal because we all of the same species, the same on the inside, regardless of our outer appearances. What we fail to realize is, no matter what kind material possessions you have or how you make or work for, such things do not give you authority or superiority over others.

    Read More

  • Messages from Point of View in Langston Hughes’ I too

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.

    Read More

  • The Influences for Langston Hughes' Successful Writing Career

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Hughes’s life leading up to his success as a writer and poet he faced many difficult times and criticism from his white counter parts. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1st, 1902 (Biography of Langston Hughes). After his father left him and his mother, he was left in the care of his mother. However he was raised mostly by his grandmother, who was able to instill in him a lasting sense of racial pride which he carried with him until the day he died (Biography). As a young child Hughes was always left with a feeling that he was alone which led to him writing poetry, which he began in high school. Even in his high school career, his writing were criticized. He was denied acceptance and ignored by white peers in high school. Another obstacle in Hughes’s path to success, was his ongoing fight ...

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes Essay

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the early to mid-twentieth century Langston Hughes contributed vastly to a very significant cultural movement later to be named the “Harlem Renaissance.” At the time it was named the “New Negro Movement,” which involved African Americans in creating and expressing their words through literature and art. Hughes contributed in a variety of different aspects including plays, poems, short stories, novels and even jazz. He was even different from other notable black poets at the time in the way that he shared personal experiences rather than the ordinary everyday experiences of black America. His racial pride helped mold American politics and literature into what it is today.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes And The Harlem Renaissance

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the advantages of how he wrote his poetry is that it can take hold of people by exemplifying his accounts of the everyday life that the disenfranchised experience. Hughes took on the injustices that other dared no to speak of. He wrote about how the African-American people of the 1920’s suffered the plight of racial inequality. In many cases I believe that Hughes used his writing as an instrument of change. In “Come to the Waldorf-Astoria” (506) Hughes tackles the drastic disparity between wealthy whites and the African Americans of the 1930’s. This piece displays an unconventional style for a poem; using satire to capture the reader’s attention. By using this satiric form of poetry Hughes is able to play on the emotions of the white reader, while at the same time inspiring the black readers. Hughes is constantly comparing the luxuries of the Waldorf-Astoria to the hardships that the African American people were experiencing. “It's cold as he...

    Read More

  • Biography of Langston Hughes

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... They focus more on the cultural aspects of identity that Hughes is very proud of, while poems “Democracy” and “Theme for English B” touch on some of the social concerns that created a struggle for dignity as a black person in the early/mid twentieth century. The “Democracy” is a slightly stern and direct request to take action and fight for civil rights. The “Theme for English B” is a compassionate and low-key personal anecdote that reiterates the unpracticed concept that “all men are created equal”. Despite the difference in tone and subject, all four poems relate to the central theme that dignity is something that white men may take for granted, but Langston Hughes, as a black man and a writer, sees and feels dignity as a fight and a struggle that he faces and that the black community as a whole faces every day.

    Read More

  • Color Barriers in The Theme for English B by Langston Hughes

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    The speech addresses the issues of racism as a barrier in culture, which is supposed to bring equality and inclusion to everyone. In the poem “The Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, the author discusses the influence of dominant culture on a colored person in a school. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, and the color of your skin is a barrier between dominant culture and lesser cultures, and it can be overcome by the use of education. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, as it is a prejudgment of people’s classes and social standards by the assessment of their skin color. In “The Theme for English B” the author of the poem talks about dominant culture in a school setting from a colored student’s point of view.

    Read More

  • American Dream Dbq

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal,”(Source B). Martin Luther King Jr. wanted everyone to be equal no matter the appearance and no one oppresses over another. This supports the theme of inequality because if humans are not treated equal from their appearances this concludes they are placed lower in society causing inequality. Hughes wants a world where everyone is equal and everyone is free. Since during the time Hughes wrote this poem, he was a black male that wanted freedom while whites already had freedom. Blacks were not equal to whites and it clearly states that everyone should be equal and sharing the same rights. Hughes makes it clear the he did not want appearances or skin color to affect the amount of rights one person had. ‘‘A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth, And every man is free,’’(Source C). This is related to the theme of social inequality, Hughes is dreaming of a world where people are equal, therefore meaning there is inequality. Since part of the American dream is to be equal this makes it impossible to achieve the American dream without freedom and

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes' Poem The Weary Blues

    4375 Words  | 9 Pages

    Langston Hughes was deemed the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race," a fitting title which the man who fueled the Harlem Renaissance deserved. But what if looking at Hughes within the narrow confines of the perspective that he was a "black poet" does not fully give him credit or fully explain his works? What if one actually stereotypes Hughes and his works by these over-general definitions that cause readers to look at his poetry expecting to see "blackness?" Any person's unique experiences in life and the sense of personal identity this forms most definitely affects the way he or she views the world. This molded view of the world can, in turn, be communicated by the person through artistic expression. Taking this logic into account, to more fully comprehend the message and force of Hughes' poetry one must look, not just to his work, but also at the experiences in his life that constructed his ideas about society and his own identity. In looking at Hughes' biography, one studies his struggle to form a self-identity that reflected both his African American and mainstream white cultural influence; consequently, this mixing of black and white identity that occurred throughout Hughes' life is reflected in his poem "The Weary Blues."

    Read More

  • I Too Sing America Literary Devices

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    By this Langston means people will not only see the color of his skin, but the beauty and capability he has on the inside. People will see that he is really beautiful—nothing and no one to be embarrassed by—and they will be ashamed by their earlier behavior. Hughes ends the poem by again stating, "I, too, am America" (line 18) showing his true pride and ownership of a country that was never very hospitable to him. Hughes is a talented poet who uses metaphors and his own style of writing to create the effectiveness of his overall message. He uses metaphor throughout the poem for the readers to dig deeper and see underneath the surfaces. He starts out by stating that he, too was an American, but that he is treated like someone the “family” would be ashamed of. Separated from the rest of the society, eating in another room, being given a different treatment than the others. The speaker never let these actions get the best of him. He decided to bide his time where he has been sent and grow stronger and work hard to obtain and enjoy all the rights that all people in the U.S. shall enjoy regardless of their race or

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Langston Hughes' Poem, Freedom Train

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Towards the middle of the poem the realist in Hughes comes out. He goes into the doubts that most African Americans had at the time. He says, "Down South in Dixie only train I sees got a Jim Crow car set aside for me." Another interesting technique he adds is when he capitalizes the "WHITE FOLKS ONLY" and "FOR COLORED" signs. He either does this to draw attention to the cause, or to try and know what it feels like to have these signs sticking in your face. He specifically mentions Birmingham, Mississippi, and Georgia during the poem. These were key cities that were into segregation of the South. "When it stops in Mississippi will it be made plain everybody's got a right to board the freedom train." Hughes almost is becoming a little agitated in the poem when he refers to these cities, especially when he is talking about Birmingham. "The Birmingham station's marked COLORED and WHITE, the white folks go left, the colored go right." In this part of the poem, he is questioning whether or not this Freedom Train is too good to be true. He sounds like he doubts a little of what this Freedom Train is all about. He knows there is a train, but there have been a lot of promises before that were not fulfilled, he does not want to get his hopes up before he finds out more about this train.

    Read More

More about How To Racism In Langston Hughes's Poem

Open Document