Modernism

Langston Hughes is the Walt Whitman that America at large refused to recognize.

Because he wrote within the “modern” era, Hughes centered his social commentary around art. This “center” encompasses many platforms that Hughes explored: experimental poetry, writing about social perception of art, referencing past conceptions of art, etc.

In his poem “I, Too,” Hughes asserts that he contains the multitudes that Whitman spoke of so highly and confidently. And just like Whitman, he pronounced his worthiness to the world with a refreshing sort of egoism. Langston Hughes sought to emerge as the American Voice which had been kept in the dark, repressed, for far too long.

The poem seems to directly reference the restrictive nature of the American Dream. Hughes begins by directly equating himself with Whitman, stating that “I, too, sing America,” (1) implying that he is just as united with America as Whitman was, and just as able to become the American Voice. However, the oppressive structures that his America was built upon keep him, “…the darker brother,” (2) in the shadows because “they send [him] to eat in the kitchen” (3). However, unlike others before him who recognized these structures, Hughes confronts them directly.

When he says “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at the table, / When company comes” (8-10), he asserts that he will not back down in his proclamation of himself as the American Voice. Hughes’ direct confrontation of the oppressive, restrictive nature of the American Dream makes his attempts to realize it even more American Dream-esque than the efforts of Whitman: despite all odds, Hughes rose above the structures built to tear him down. He declared himself a self-made, American man, all the while recognizing the systemic social structures that worked to oppress him.