Summary Of I Too Sing America By James Langston Hughes

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist; he is also best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance ("Langston Hughes.”). “Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, the second child of school teacher Caroline Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes (Biography of Langston Hughes)”. Hughes wrote many poems about the dark natures of racism and slavery, one of them being called “I, Too, Sing America”. In this short poem, Hughes begins by claiming that he, too, “sings America”. He notes that he is “the darker brother”, referring to his skin color, and then makes reference to the fact that he is sent “to eat in the kitchen when company comes”, as if he were a black slave, but …show more content…
Singing is a unique way of communication; sometimes it can highlight emotions in different ways, and then catch the attention of its listeners. Singing can also be done not only by one person but also as a group, and its voice can reach to not only one person but also a group, good point therefore Hughes is trying to use the word singing to highlight that he, too, is singing a song of America, he too is a part of this “chorus” and singing America is a way of him is trying to tell us something about America in a special way. The first line of the second stanza said “I am the darker brother” which links to the speaker’s skin color, thus leading us to put our minds on black Americans (Hughes, Line 2). and also asserts that he 's "part of the family" From the previous line referencing America, that Hughes is claiming his identity not only as a black man, but also speaking for himself the black community as an important part of American …show more content…
Lines 11-12 from the second stanza speak: “Nobody will dare Say to me,”(Hughes, Line 11-12). These lines continues the same thought process as the previous three, which the speaker imagines a future that he will be treated with the same kind of respect as white people and also be respectful to each other. In this case, the emphasis is a lot stronger, because not only is he present at the table, but he will, too, have control over the situation; such as what people do and do not say to him as he is capable to command respect itself. Lines 13-14 are “Eat in the kitchen, Then”. At this point no one will dare to order him to eat in the kitchen anymore as this poem progresses. The speaker being ordered to eat in the kitchen, in this case, is representing a larger problem which is the injustice of racial discrimination and inequality. The fact that inequality manifests itself in our everyday lives even now days, as it sometimes takes on the form of unbalanced power. Hughes makes this fact even more obvious, by actually “quoting” the whites who have been in power here as it makes the inequality take the form of a direct