Langston Hughes I, Too, Sing America

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Another example of Hughes work I would like to refer in order to help explain the meaning of identity is a pome called "I, Too, Sing America", written in 1945, a decade before the civil rights movement. This poem clearly depict the division and struggle of African Americans in a land they were transplanted. Powerful words such as "I, Too" indicate one's identity from the perspective of an African American man who happened to be either a slave, a free man in the Jim Crow South, or even a domestic servant. Hughes's description in the poem reflects run-of-the-mill experience for many African Americans during and before his time. The speaker begins by validating that he too can “sing America,” meaning that he is claiming his rights to feel faithful nationalism towards America, even though he is the "different" and “darker” American who cannot sit at the table and must eat in the kitchen - with his kind. What Hughes did was very…show more content…
The writings of Hughes clearly indicate his gravitation towards the "normal" and "hardworking" class of the American working class. Hughes simply wanted, or spoke about one's (an African American) will of getting the same opportunity given to others. The opportunity to take care of his/her family, drink from the same water fountain, reside, travel, work, etc. These everyday things, illustrate living life in its simplest form, and I believe this is where Langston Hughes's admiration and sought to attribute to the working class came from. He affirmed their interrelationship, their consistency, their perseverance, their tenacity, their resistance to the middle class, and the dignity they took in their identity. More importantly, he demolished the notion that working class is something to be feared or to be freed. Through Hughes's work, readers can clearly see that the working-class experience is something to be valued, not disregard or to feel sorry
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