Question: Discuss the liberal attitude of Langston Hughes.
Introduction
Langston Hughes is one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. He believes in using his art to get his feelings about politics and justice. He travels to other countries to learn how to deal with ethnic issues. Despite his own liberal beliefs, Hughes defends himself on behalf of African American workers who hold more conservative views.
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The liberal attitude expressed in his poems
In almost all the poems of Langston Hughes, we get his strong liberalism. In his most powerful poem “I Too Sing America”, his liberal attitude has got expressed acutely with full confidence. The poem is singularly significant evidence of the museum’s mission to tell the history of the United States through the lanes of the African-American experience. That history took shape in the early twentieth century when Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation across the Southern United States.
Just 18 lines of it contain multiple themes such as inequality, racial discrimination, and hope. These themes express African-American relations with the majority culture and society. The poet has been shocked by the utmost discriminatory relationships but never loses hope that is why he proclaims confidently:
“Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table”
Conclusion
To express his liberal attitude, Langston Hughes has written a number of protest poems which are the paradigm of peaceful revolution.
