Why Hughes?

Why Langston Hughes – in my humble opinion—seeks to redefines history:

I chose Langston Hughes two poems, “Let America be America Again”, and “Open Letter to the South” for several reasons. One reason was that I was not really sure how much latitude we were going to be given for the research paper and wanted to make sure that it would fall under the “approved” category. Another reason is that I have not yet written about poetry and view this as a challenge to myself and my own analytical skills – hopefully this won’t bite me!!! Another reason I chose these works, and perhaps a reason that I came to after thinking about this assignment more thoroughly, is that I truly do believe that there is a parallel history that has yet to be written in America. This parallel history is one that deals with the races, other than white, who were a large part of the formation of this country, but who are largely ignored in the majority of textbooks and history books that we have today. Because we are only a century from this era of ignorance and racism, I honestly believe that it is up to the writers and historians of this day to reclaim, redefine, and rewrite the fractured history of America. In addition to this igniting of the past, I believe that post colonial theory is quite relevant to this time of literature in America. It is only further explored by the writings of Langston Hughes and especially his early radical poetry which is part of both of these poems. Hughes is unique in that he spoke out and wrote true to his race and class at the time regardless of the consequences. I guess that a history that was so integral a part of who we are as a nation today is a fact that I am not willing to overlook and hope to be a part of redefining it into the future.