Langston Hughes Poem

At the beginning of the poem, Hughes lists all the people that were struggling and being oppressed at the time the poem was written. He points out the poor, the blacks that still bare the scares of slavery, the red man driven from his home, and the immigrant clutching to hope. He reconciles them with the opening plea by saying, “America will be!” This is saying that they still had hope.
Hughes probably had different responses to his poem back in 1938. Poor blacks would have agreed and sympathized with him while poor whites would have sympathized, but not agreed that they should all be categorized together. They still felt they were above the blacks and therefore were a little better than them. Certain members of Congress would have
disagreed, but the members that came from poor states or counties understood firsthand what Hughes was saying. This is also true for intellectuals. They were smart enough to see the oppression and strife surrounding them. Religious groups in the South however, were doubtlessly not empathetic. They would have looked down at Hughes and been insulted that he would dare speak for them. In the North, I think it depended on the group you spoke to. I feel the poem is still relevant today and would still get mixed responses.
As mentioned above, Hughes’ list of oppressed people is all inclusive. I don’t feel he overlooks any differences in the group, but points out the similarities in their suffering. This convinces me that he was right in grouping them all together. By his use of the word “I” he captures each of these people personally and brings them together by his use of the word “we” at the end.