I Too Sing America Tone

“I, Too, Sing America,” by Langston Hughes, is a powerful declaration of African-Americans’ place in American society, both past and future. In this poem, Hughes asserts that he and every black American have as much claim to this country as anyone else, despite the efforts made to marginalize, oppress, and separate his race from the rest of society. The opening line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” (Hughes 1), is phrased in a brilliantly subtle manner to convey a tone of claiming something that has been kept from him. Interestingly, this is achieved by one little word: “too.” Say, for instance, that Hughes had chosen to open the poem with, “I sing America.” Comparatively, that would read as rather benign. The focus in the altered sentence

/ They send me to eat in the kitchen / When company comes, / But I laugh, / And eat well, / And grow strong” (Hughes 2-7), and outlines the growth and resilience of the black community in the face of their oppression. These lines can be taken literally, as they refer to the fact that slaves and, later, free black citizens were disallowed from sharing public spaces with white people and quite literally sent to the kitchen for their meals rather than allowed a place at the table. Sadly, Jim Crow laws were still in full swing at the time that Langston Hughes penned this poem. However, the stanza may also be read metaphorically. Hughes is using the literal treatment of black citizens in regard to food to tell the reader that the adversity has made them emotionally strong. In other words, when Hughes says, “But I laugh, / And eat well, / And grow strong,” he is speaking of emotional and psychological nourishment as well as physical nourishment. Being in the kitchen rather than the dining room refers to being pushed to the outskirts of society, and Hughes makes it clear that regardless of where he finds himself in life, he will take every opportunity to feed not only his body but also his mind and spirit until he is able to clear the hurdles placed in his