As I read each poem by Langston Hughes, I noticed a common pattern that ran throughout each work. It seems that each poem expressed Hughes’ yearning to express himself in his full capacity, but coming across something that was holding him back. Although it was symbolized in different forms, its safe to say this blocking force is the segeregation and racism toward black Americans that Hughes experienced throughout his life.
I found Hughes message in “Will V-Day be Me-Day too?” to be quite powerful. The comparisons Hughes makes specifically to thew Germans and the way they treated the Jews really stuck with me. Although the US never went to the extremes the Nazis did during WW2, I found it ironic that a country could preach about how its wrong to treat another people differently when that same country is still streating its own people differntly based on their skin color. I also found it thought-provoking when Hughes asked if he would be “safe from harm” when he took off his uniform. I found it sad that white people would only cheer on black people when they went out to put their life on the line for a country that frankly didn’t care much for them. And I found it even sadder that as soon as they came back from this dangerous mission, they were still treated as if nothing had changed.
I think Hughes was also yearning to express himself, although I believe in most he was able to do so and was bold with what he wrote. I don’t think he was as afraid to say what he wanted, although the way he write does seems to sugar coat his situation, because he is obvious with the discrimination, but doesn’t describe the true horrors of it in some situations.
I also thought his poem, “Will V-Day be Me-Day Too?” was really interesting and described a very real and sad perspective of black soldiers during the war. I was sad when he questions the readers why is he treated so poorly even when he was on the same side during battle. This shows how even though they were wearing the same uniforms and fighting for the same country, there still was discrimination and inequality in how black Americans were treated.
This is a very strong analysis in the first paragraph. I did not pick up on this but I think it is very interesting to think about. I find the connection between the Nazis and Americans to be interesting, because I can kind of see both sides to this story. There is clearly an extreme here, but the premise of the point definitely makes you think about where the United States is at today.