Langston Hughes Democracy

Langston Hughes’s poem “Oppression” is expressed in the form of a protest. However, his composition of words are all contrary to the title. Langston begins his poem expressing negativity, even tragedy. “Now dreams are not available to the dreamers, Nor songs to the singers.” This logically is a tragic statement due to dreamers need dreams to be dreamers and singers need songs to be singers. The nature of tragedy is contrary to the nature of oppression, which is expressed here as a force that divides a harmonious relationships (e.g singers and there songs). At the end of langston’s poem he makes a form of prophecy or positivity. “But the dream will come back, and the song break its jail.“ this is contrast to his previous writing assuring the

Jim Crow laws have been around in the south for many years to restrict blacks from having manying rights that they should of had. The Jim Crow laws in the south have been getting blacks in trouble by getting themselves hung by the KKK."Jim Crow laws relegated blacks to an inferior status socially and to second-class status legally"(Jim ). In the south during this time blacks had no rites and no power and the reason was because the laws like the Jim Crow laws they were set to enforce to blacks that they were not the ones that were “running this town” and it came to a point where even the president agreed "Roosevelt, like so many others of his time,felt that "as a race and in the mass" African Americans were "altogether inferior to whites," not social and intellectual equals."(Jim). Thats saying that the president was was against the blacks and its basically saying one of the laws of the Jim Crow laws. Its also saying that the president was racist towards blacks too.

The Jim Crow Laws were laws that segregated white people and colored people. They did this by making whites go to different schools than colored people. They also made it to where blacks had to go to different shops than whites. They said it was separate but equal. It was not the colored people would get bad quality in every area they were allowed. This is what the Jim Crow Laws were about they were supposed to make black people feel like second class citizens. Like they would have to sit in the back of the bus. Many people fought against these laws including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. These iconic people were considered leaders in the fight against racial segregation. As stated earlier the 15th amendment was supposed to be an amendment to where blacks got to vote. Yet they were prevented from stretching their right to vote. When they would try to vote they would be hit with obstacles like the grandfather clause and the literacy test. But that is not all they would be hurt or abused every time they would try to vote. This is what the cause was why these iconic people became famous. They went through trials to fight for the rights of black people and to bring awareness to the fact that the Jim Crow laws were not equal and pried on black people. The main reason for all of this discrimination was because before all of the amendments slavery was a big thing in America. So when the amendment came out saying that slavery was not

The angry African American crowd chanted, “Separate but equal isn’t equal!”. The Jim Crow laws were considered legally fair , but they were really degrading to blacks in most public facilities. The laws basically allowed racism and discrimination, but said it wasn’t. Blacks faced many places and spots that were segregated mainly in the south. Some of the main areas that this segregation happened was on public buses, schools, and balloting poles. The African American population was outraged by this.

The Jim Crow laws had a large impact on American history. For years African Americans had to live under a law that separated them from the rest of the white population. These laws made African Americans outcasts and forced them to be low class members of society. The law considered them “Separate but equal” but indeed they were not. African Americans were discriminated against all over the United States. They weren’t allowed to drink from the same water fountains or ride the same seats on the bus. They were usually given lesser quality versions of whatever their white counterparts had. These Jim Crow laws were strictly enforced in many southern areas and punishment for breaking the law could be very severe. Blacks in the United States lived under these laws for generations until a series of protests and movements helped redefine what equality really is. One of these protests took place in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina, when African American college students took a stand for their equality. They peacefully demonstrated that they would no longer be discriminated against and wanted to be treated as equal as anyone else.

The Jim Crow Laws were unlawfully placed in the south in order to take away blacks' rights. Therefore, The whites enforcing this took away their social freedoms, educational rights, and voting rights. These actions separated and increase tension between blacks and whites. These events go against what America was originally created for; a place to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Jim Crow Laws were intended to discriminated against blacks and separate them from whites.

The Jim Crow laws according to Pilgrim, “was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life.” (V.) These laws happened everyday for blacks and it formed into a way of life for them. Often time’s these laws were completely unjust and made Blacks have to work a lot harder in life or struggle to get by in life. For instance “A Black male could not offer his hand with a White male because it implied that they were socially equal” (Pilgrim). That law in general is outrageous and shows how the White people thought of blacks and wanted them to be on the bottom of the totem pole. There were some reasons that these laws were put into place and enforced. One of these was because doctors said that they were inferior to whites. “Whites

Jim Crow laws were laws created by local and state governments that fueled racial segregation and maintained the “separate but equal” doctrine, which was defined by the formation of public spaces that were segregated but “equal”. This, of course, led to lower standards of living for African-Americans in the United States. One of the most important rights taken from African-Americans at this time was the right to vote. Unlike Caucasian voters, African-Americans were often given “literacy tests” or asked to do hard tasks, these were done with the goal to effectively stop them from voting. Many protests were held to protest this, eventually leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act expanded upon the rights for minorities by outlawing segregation of many things. “To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes.” This act was a monumental step closer to equality in America for

However, he writes a poem to convey his perspective. Hughes states, “I do not need my freedom when I am dead. I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.” This shows that Hughes wants freedom to come now because he doesn’t want all his fighting to go to waste (Hughes 112). Another example is, “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my two feet and own the land.” This is showing that Hughes should have the same rights as everyone else in this world (Hughes 111). Hughes also states, “I live here, too. I want freedom just as you.” This states that he wants freedom just as much as everyone else who is getting treated unfairly (Hughes

This poem was written in 1949 and published in 1951, at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes was known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural boom in Harlem, New York. The call to action in the poem is that African Americans deserve their rights so that they can enjoy life to the fullest extent, unrestricted by racist laws and ideas, in the same way that white people already do. His leadership of other artists in the movement guided and channeled their collective artistic strength to achieve a common goal:

At the beginning of the poem the author expresses that he wants America to be the America what it used to be. In line 2 he refers to the American Dream, the dream of endless possibilities, regardless of your race or skin color. Today most people think of the American dream as from rags to riches. But at the time “Let America Be America Again” was published, the American Dream meant much more than that. It expressed freedom and equality no matter where you were born or which skin color you had. The following line “Let it be the pioneer on the plain” tells the reader, that when America was founded, it was meant to be an example for the whole world. Many people came to America due to the promise of their own rights. But in line 5 Langston Hughes

In Langston Hughes poem “Theme for English B” he states he is black and “You are white- yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American”. We are all American and we are all one. We all have similar desires not identical but similar in nature. We want to be free to be what and who we want to be without being held back by others who wish to hold us back in order to advance themselves. In his poem “As I grew older” he writes about oppression, “And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream”, The wall rising is the oppression brought about by the racism he faced here in America.

Have you ever thought democracy might be unfair? Well, in stories “TWELVE ANGRY MEN” by Reginald Rose and “DEMOCRACY” by Langston Hughes, both authors have a different perspective on democracy.”Although Reginald Rose and Langston Hughes don’t have the same perspective on democracy, they both find a way to express what they think about democracy through a poem and a play . A key difference is Rose believes democracy is fair and and Hughes thinks it’s unfair. In “DEMOCRACY” the author writes about wanting freedom. While in “TWELVE ANGRY MEN” the author writes that he feels democracy is fair.

He incorporated the aspect of being different didn’t matter. Everyone has rights as a person. I got this perception from the lines “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my two feet and own the land”. This phrase shows racial discrimination could have been an aspect to Hughes motives for writing Democracy.