Sandy Cash

Professor Bouchard

ENG 132

Langston Hughes’s Dream

April 1, 2012

Langston Hughes’s Dream

In Langston Hughes’ poems, a common theme is racism. This is because during his

life he had to deal with this. Looking at the time when Hughes lived, and how he himself was

treated, helps to understand why he wrote on racism. Hughes wrote plenty on racism to the

point where he was called the “unchallenged spokesman of the American Negro”

(LibraryOfCongress). One can see this in his poetry, like “My People,” and “I Too.” He also,

played an important part in the Harlem Renaissance and in a model for other African

American writers. ("Langston Hughes")

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin Missouri in 1902, and died on May 22, 1967

(DiYanni 704). Langston Hughes lived during the time when Martin Luther King Jr. was

alive and fighting against segregation. This was the time of Jim Crow Laws, where it was

legalized segregation between blacks and whites ("Jim Crow laws"). Railways, busses,

restaurants, neighborhoods, boardinghouses, and public parks were segregated; separate

schools, and hospitals, generally of inferior quality, were chosen for blacks (“Jim Crow

laws”). By World War I, even places of employment were segregated, and it was not until

after World War II that a fight on Jim Crow in the South began to develop (“Jim Crow”).

Langston Hughes lived in Kansas and Ohio before he began studying at Columbia

University in New York and then later going on to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania

(DiYanni 701). He worked many odd jobs, from a seaman, to a newspaper correspondent, to

an editor, and a busboy (DiYanni 701). While doing these odd jobs, he visited every

continent, except Australia, and Antarctica (LibraryOfCongress). It was while he was

working as a busboy in a hotel in Washington D.C. that he slipped a couple of his poems to

the poet Vachel Lindsay, who recognized how well they were written, and this began

Hughes’s writing career (LibraryOfCongress).

Before Martin Luther King Jr. started leading people against segregation, Langston

Hughes was already wishing for a time when his people would have equal rights with whites.

This is shown in his poem “I Too,” in which he talks about how he is also an America, even

if his skin is darker, and yet right now the whites can not see this, for they have them eat in a

different place. He goes on to say, one day whites will not dare discriminate against him, for

they will actually see him for who he is and they will be ashamed of how they treated him

before. This poem, is almost like a prophecy, for this is what happens as shown in history.

Another example, of how Hughes wishes for equality are his poems “My People.” In “My

People,” he compares the beauty of the night, stars and sun to his people, saying they are

beautiful people too.

Another issue Hughes shows in racism is how the landlords and rent men

discriminate against African Americans, in his poems “Ballad of the Landlord,” and in

“Madam and the Rent Man.” First, in “Ballad of the Landlord,” Hughes talks about how the

house has a leak, and the steps are broken, but the landlord will not fix them, he just wants

his rent. When the resident refuses to pay until the landlord fixes these issues, the landlord

says he will get eviction orders and turn off the heat; but when the resident also threatens

him, the landlord calls the police. The next day the headlines in the press are “Man Threatens

Landlord/Tenant Held No Bail/Judge Gives Negro 90 Days In Country Jail” (Hughes 716-

717). In the second poem, there are similarities to “Ballad of the Landlord,” but instead the

tenant is a woman, and the ending leaves it open: we do not know what happens, if she is

evicted or goes to jail.

During his lifetime, he wrote a few children books, such as The First Book for

Negroes, documentary works, historical works, dramatic pieces, which included plays,

musicals, and operettas, his own autobiography, edited books, poetry books, radio and

television scripts, translated other poetry books, and had a weekly column in the Chicago

Defender called “Simple ” (LibraryOfCongress) (DiYanni 701). It was for his versatile

ability in writing that made him a great model for writers, not just for Africa Americans.

Hughes was also an important influence in the Harlem Renaissance, which he

basically defined in his essay, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" ("Langston

Hughes"). This term is used to describe a blossoming of African-American literature, music,

dance and art in the 1920s, mainly in the Harlem district of New York City (DiYanni 700).

The Harlem Renaissance was portraits of black life in America, Black American culture, and

racial pride among African Americans (“Harlem Renaissance”). This is where jazz and the

blues came from. Hughes used these influences to write some of his poetry, such as in the

stanza form of the blues (DiYanni 702). An example of this would be in “Trumpet Player,”

and in “Same in Blues.”

Langston Hughes played an important role in the Harlem Renaissance, which

portrays of black life in America, Black American culture, and racial pride among African

Americans (“Harlem Renaissance”). He also was a good model for Africa American writers

and other writers too, for he was very versatile writer, he could write poetry, children’s

books, and documentaries. His poetry has a common theme about racism, and the

discrimination against African Americans, because this is what was happening in his life.

Works Cited DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Second.

Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008. 700-725. Print.

"Harlem Renaissance." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. © 1994, 2000-2006, on

Infoplease.© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.

01 Apr. 2012 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0822748.html>.

Hughes, Langston. "Ballad of the Landlord" DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches to

Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008. 716-717.

Hughes, Langston. "Madam and the Rent Man" DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches

to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008. 716-717.

"Jim Crow laws." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.© 1994, 2000-2006, on

Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.

01 Apr. 2012 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0826301.html>.

"Langston Hughes." 2012. Biography.com 31 Mar 2012, 10:19

<http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313>

LibraryOfCongress. “Langston Hughes and His Poetry.” 1 April 2012. Online video clip.

YouTube. 10 February 2009.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpItYHdP8Q&feature=youtu.be>