It was rough being African American in a time like the 1940’s, especially in the United States. Langston Hughes, however, knew how to turn those hardships into poetry. Hughes was a strong believer of equality, and he expressed this in his poems. Because he grew up as an African American during the time of segregation in the United States and not only saw but experienced first hand the many acts of unkindness done to African Americans, Langston Hughes’s “I, Too” has a universal theme of racial equality. Langston Hughes could accredit much of his success to his early years of high school and college. Growing up, he looked up to the likes of Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, and Mark Twain (Langston Hughes). He went to high school in Cleveland, where
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In the first part of his poem, (lines 2-4), Hughes talks about being denied a place at the table when guests come for dinner. Here he is speaking of the “past” in this section, where he is being treated unfairly. In the next stanza, however, he starts with “Tomorrow…,” implying that this is in the future. In this section Hughes will be at the table alongside everyone else, and no one will dare tell him to leave. This is important because African Americans at that time were not given the same rights as white men. It was the dream that one day people will see them as …show more content…
“I, too, am America” means that we are all citizens of America, the “melting pot of the world.” The fact that a group of people living in this country are being mistreated by another group of people in this country is extremely unjust. Hughes strongly believed that all people should be considered equal and should be treated as such. Finally, Hughes’s use of the word “I” in this poem is very significant. When you read the poem, the word “I” makes you think of yourself. If you were put in a situation where you were being mistreated because of your skin color, you would be frustrated, too. This was Hughes’s intended purpose. In order to make this poem connect to the reader, Langston uses the word “I” to make the reader feel as if he or she were in the poem and going through those events. Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” is mainly about equality because of the times he lived in and the racial mistreatments he witnessed. “I, Too” is a poem expressing his frustrations toward segregation. It is written in a way that allows us to easily picture what it is like to be an African American during the
In the first part of his poem, (lines 2-4), Hughes talks about being denied a place at the table when guests come for dinner. Here he is speaking of the “past” in this section, where he is being treated unfairly. In the next stanza, however, he starts with “Tomorrow…,” implying that this is in the future. In this section Hughes will be at the table alongside everyone else, and no one will dare tell him to leave. This is important because African Americans at that time were not given the same rights as white men. It was the dream that one day people will see them as …show more content…
“I, too, am America” means that we are all citizens of America, the “melting pot of the world.” The fact that a group of people living in this country are being mistreated by another group of people in this country is extremely unjust. Hughes strongly believed that all people should be considered equal and should be treated as such. Finally, Hughes’s use of the word “I” in this poem is very significant. When you read the poem, the word “I” makes you think of yourself. If you were put in a situation where you were being mistreated because of your skin color, you would be frustrated, too. This was Hughes’s intended purpose. In order to make this poem connect to the reader, Langston uses the word “I” to make the reader feel as if he or she were in the poem and going through those events. Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” is mainly about equality because of the times he lived in and the racial mistreatments he witnessed. “I, Too” is a poem expressing his frustrations toward segregation. It is written in a way that allows us to easily picture what it is like to be an African American during the