Pride and Desperation

To me, Langston Hughes presents the "Negro" plight quite well through his poetry. He writes about not only the terrible and unfortunate events that happened back in the early 1900s, but also of Black pride. He writes about retaining a scorned identity, no matter what life may bring your way. Yes, the poems are not lengthy or written in Fitzgeraline prose, but they strike the heart through their simplicity.

A great example of this simplicity is Mulatto. I read this poem for the first time as a college freshman. I remember how I had never thought about the identity crisis children from mixed-race families must have. Hughes uses stronger language in this poem to get the point across, and it quite successful. The lines, "Git on back there in the night, You ain't white...I am your son, white man! I little yellow Bastard boy" exude not only disdain for a white Father, but of hopelessness. Of resignation. When I took Cullen's piece into consideration after reading this poem, I wondered "how would a Mulatto child retain pride in his identity?"

Hopelessness, resignation, and bitterness are apparent in all of Hugh's poetry from the selection of our reading. But on the flip side, there is "Mother to Son" and "I, too" that speak of hope and pride. They speak of a future filled with equality, regardless of what their reality is now. But even those contain desperation between the lines of encouragement to others. It gives valuable insight into the heart of the Black experience.