Synthesis Paragraph

Because of the gap of respect African Americans face in America, “the land of the free”,
these people are forced to deal with the dwelling racism that challenges the “freedom” that all
American citizens were promised. The poet Langston Hughes who wrote, I, Too, emphasizes this
problem by expressing his resentment towards black Americans being ignored and undervalued
in society by testing the poem, I hear America Singing, by Walt Whitman. Whitman’s poem
mainly focuses on the working class of America and mentions how each group works hard at
their jobs to make America strong. Whitman states this when he writes, “I hear America singing,
the varied carols I hear,”(1) and “Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.”(11).
Whitman indicates how he notices these multiple groups of people and respects them for what
they do. And when he talks about how all the workers sing together in unison it represents how
he thinks they particularly build up the American society. But after Whitman’s poem is made
people throughout time be left to reflect upon his ideas. So then decades later Langston Hughes
opposed the objectives of Whitman’s poem and created his own poem called I, Too. Hughes'
poem directly points out the ideas from Whitman’s poem about ignoring the hardwork black
citizens have done for America. In Hughes' poem he writes, “They send me to eat in the kitchen,
When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.”(3-7). Here, Hughes
emphasizes the little respect blacks are shown, and how African Americans will just use this
mockery to grow stronger in their pride. The blacks already know their worth and that soon they
will be highlighted in American society as they should be. Hughes reveals this and says,
“Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am, And be ashamed— I, too, am America.”(15-18).
Hughes illustrates how the blacks have hope for the future with the huge problem of segregation
in America. Then with the last line Hughes directly calls upon Whitman’s poem by saying “I,
too, am America.”(18). This calls directly to Whitman by letting him know that he forgot about
the entirety of the African American race in U.S. society. Because of the unceasing racism in
America towards African Americans, society including all people and occupations tend to be
forgetful towards all the good black people have brought on the U.S..