James Mercer Langston Hughes, more commonly known as Langston Hughes, was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri and died on May 22, 1967 in New York City (“Langston Hughes”, par.1). Hughes was an American writer who was most famously known for being a part of the Harlem Renaissance, an artistic movement beginning in the 1920s that “kindled a new black cultural identity” (“Harlem Renaissance”, par. 1). Hughes poems were generally focused around the lives and hardships of African American people. “Themes for English B” is a great poem written by Langston Hughes and published in 1951. The major themes of this poem are racial equality and unity, and learning your truth. During the 1950s, African Americans and white Americans were not equal.
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According to David R. Jones, a man who grew up in Crown Heights Brooklyn during the 1950s, the 1950s was a time where black people could not buy homes in certain neighborhoods without being beat or worse by white people and where police violence against black people happened on a regular basis (Jones, par. 1). “Theme for English B” goes against the society views of this historical time period. Society during the 1950s was seen as hating each other, but Hughes, through the speaker of the poem, did not want to live in a world filled with . Hughes thought that they could be able to get along with each other, but the other people in the society did not feel the same way. While the speaker in “Theme for English B” believed that he was “a part of you, instructor” and the white instructor was “a part of me” most white Americans did not “want to be a part” of African Americans culture at all (Hughes, lns 30 & 32). Most African Americans and white Americans did not feel the need to get to know each other because they were born into a world where hate for another culture and people were accepted, but Hughes was not afraid to speak up on these horrendous …show more content…
During this time period, nothing was fear for anyone who was a race other than Caucasian. There were Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African Americans and segregation. Many people only saw the Southern states as being racist, but in reality the Northern states also had their faults. The Northern states practiced segregation, which was just like Jim Crow laws, without the law part. White Americans thought that they were superior to African Americans. They acted like they were some high and mighty people and that Africans Americans were just the dirt on the bottom of their shoes. Most African Americans wanted to make peace with the world and wanted to be seen as equal. African Americans did not see know what their truth was “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me” (Hughes, ln 16). They did not see what their truth was because they were always put down by their white peers. Being apart from another race, who also was the cause of the death of your ancestors through slavery, really put a bad voice in these people’s heads. Most white Americans did not care about what their actions could do to them because that was just the way of life. Langston Hughes perfectly captured this time period in a way that any of his readers could comprehend. Hughes took a huge problem like this one and did something that many African Americans could not do
According to David R. Jones, a man who grew up in Crown Heights Brooklyn during the 1950s, the 1950s was a time where black people could not buy homes in certain neighborhoods without being beat or worse by white people and where police violence against black people happened on a regular basis (Jones, par. 1). “Theme for English B” goes against the society views of this historical time period. Society during the 1950s was seen as hating each other, but Hughes, through the speaker of the poem, did not want to live in a world filled with . Hughes thought that they could be able to get along with each other, but the other people in the society did not feel the same way. While the speaker in “Theme for English B” believed that he was “a part of you, instructor” and the white instructor was “a part of me” most white Americans did not “want to be a part” of African Americans culture at all (Hughes, lns 30 & 32). Most African Americans and white Americans did not feel the need to get to know each other because they were born into a world where hate for another culture and people were accepted, but Hughes was not afraid to speak up on these horrendous …show more content…
During this time period, nothing was fear for anyone who was a race other than Caucasian. There were Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African Americans and segregation. Many people only saw the Southern states as being racist, but in reality the Northern states also had their faults. The Northern states practiced segregation, which was just like Jim Crow laws, without the law part. White Americans thought that they were superior to African Americans. They acted like they were some high and mighty people and that Africans Americans were just the dirt on the bottom of their shoes. Most African Americans wanted to make peace with the world and wanted to be seen as equal. African Americans did not see know what their truth was “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me” (Hughes, ln 16). They did not see what their truth was because they were always put down by their white peers. Being apart from another race, who also was the cause of the death of your ancestors through slavery, really put a bad voice in these people’s heads. Most white Americans did not care about what their actions could do to them because that was just the way of life. Langston Hughes perfectly captured this time period in a way that any of his readers could comprehend. Hughes took a huge problem like this one and did something that many African Americans could not do