Hamley

Tori Vaulot
Mulliken T TH 2-3:15
“I, Too”
In Langston Hughes’ powerful poem, I Too, he uses a relationship between society and civil rights to describe the overall tone towards the Harlem Renaissance. By including American society in his poem, we can relate the past struggles of the Harlem Renaissance to how society is today. In his poem, Hughes makes America a society that accepts all people and that will one day be colorblind. In this short, yet powerful, poem, Langston Hughes begins by informing the reader that the speaker is a slave. He is not allowed to eat in the same room as the family that owns him, but that doesn’t kinder his spirit. He knows that he is American, and no matter what his skin color is, he and his owners will always share the fact that they are all American. In his next stanza, the reader proclaims “Tomorrow, I’ll sit at the table” (Hughes 1272). His defiance and determination for racial equality is expressed in just the first line of the second stanza in his poem. That same defiance and determination can be related to present day with our President, Barrack Obama. Just like in the Harlem Renaissance, Obama faced many trials and plenty of discrimination due to the color of his skin, but he proved that he, just like everyone else, is an American. Just like Hughes says in the last line of his poem, “I, too, am America” (Hughes 1272), Obama was able to overcome adversity and “become” America, just how Hughes pictured the world would be in the future. Hughes uses short, choppy, easy to understand words to convey a powerful message in just 3 stanza’s. In his poem, Hughes is always looking forward to a brighter tomorrow by keeping a positive and upbeat attitude. He hopes for change in the future, which is what eventually happened, even though he did not live to see it.

Although today there is racial equality, we are still faced with some discrimination throughout the world similar to the times of the Harlem Renaissance. What Hughes didn’t realize when he was writing his poem was the impact that it would eventually have on the future. Hughes’ Harlem Renaissance poems affected the culture back then and in current day. The way Hughes provided hope for the struggling African Americans back then is extremely inspiring. He raises the question, how can we be treated so differently, when we are all of the same? The way he sees it, we are all American and should be colorblind to every race, religion, and ethnicity. The heart of this poem lies within the strength of a black slave who stands up to his master by saying, “When company comes Nobody’ll dare say to me, Eat in the kitchen” (Hughes 1272). Once again showing his defiance towards the man, the reader is shown the strength a slave should have.
It is poems like Langston Hughes’ that helped push for an equal society and begin the fight that is still being fought today. Through his short, powerful words and strong statement, the reader is shown hope for what the future should be like.