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The Jim Crow Laws Stranglehold On The American People

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Separate but equal. These three words were used to justify the countless lynchings, riots, as well as legal segregation. The Jim Crow laws stranglehold on the American people was slowly diminishing. The racist regimes which dictated that African Americans be granted the basic rights but not a thing more, only perpetuated the idea of keeping the African Americans as second class citizens, was slowly coming to a close. Langston Hughes could not accept to be thrown into being a second class citizen when at one time he was treated as an equal. Hughs knew that one day, people would judge others by their character, not by the color of their skin. The theme of equality as well as the unique sense of liberating American freedom is prevalent all throughout I, Too, Sing America. This poem is a protest against the rapid discrimination that was still ongoing, despite the advances to bridge the race gap that were made. This theme is developed by the extended metaphor which continued throughout the poem, an allusion as well as a expansion upon a earlier piece of literature called "I Hear America Singing"; which preaches a similar message that Hughs is trying to convey, his strong diction which evokes even stronger emotions with its imagery of the rich African American culture, as well as the stark contrasts that lie within the American society.
Langston Hughs reviewed the work of Walt Whitman, as well as the general theme, prevailed of hope as well as equality. From there, Hughs

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