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Nicholas Johnsen
Mr. Damaso
Honors English 2, Period 3
12 May 2014
Singing America, Together: the Battle of Racial Injustice
"We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize
the rights of others."
William Rogers

Racial injustice has been a prominent issue in American society for hundreds of years,
influencing multiple facets of our lives today. Cardinal Nguyn Van Thun said once that hate is
borne in our hearts, and the only way to resolve is through "openness to others, fraternity, and
solidarity" (Van Thun 5). Human lives are affected by these injustices every day, and
recognizing the roots of these dilemmas is more than beneficial for the whole person. Scholars
around the globe have recognized this; one in particular named Kevin Boyle, a United Nations
Human Rights worker, states firmly that "the fight against racism begins with being
informed" (Boyle 7). This understanding can be found everywhere, especially in poetry. Poetry
addressing these injustices began to massively surface during a time period called the Harlem
Renaissance. Henry Rhodes, a literature analyst out of Yale, explains that a common theme of
most Harlem Renaissance authors was to show the Negro as a capable individual (1). This
acknowledgement of capability and humanity of these fellow Americans was the real beginning
of the fight against racial injustice throughout our country.
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Jean Toomer and Langston Hughes were two examples of these authors from the Harlem
Renaissance who embellished these ideas. The two were impactful poets who wrote inspiring
words throughout their lives. Hughes and Toomer wrote on similar topics regarding racial
injustice throughout the Harlem Renaissance and throughout their entire lives. Both of the poets,
born in America, were extremely prominent around the 1920s with poetry as well as playwriting
and short stories (Constantakis 3). Hughes himself was often called the Poet Laureate of the
Negro Race in the twilight of his life (Kansas Heritage). Toomer and Hughes created four
poems which pertain to racial injustice and the roots of it in particular: I, Too (Appendix A),
The Weary Blues (Appendix B), Storm Ending (Appendix C), and Song of the
Son(Appendix D). These four poems regard our American society and address the injustices of
it. Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer aggressively battle American societys attachment and
roots of racial injustice through their poetry.
To truly understand these roots and attachments and to be committed to justice, however,
one has to understand and know the causes of the issue as well as what it actually consists of.
Knowledge of why and what is essential for taking a stance upon the injustices of the world. The
graduate at graduation sub goal in focus has several terms inside of it that involve the locations
of the injustices and how they got there in the first place. The term roots, for example, carries
implication that the injustice has existed for a while and it must be treated as such. The word
structural also means that these injustices are amongst us right now, within the very
establishments of the lives of Americans. Lastly, the phrasing of institutions, attitudes and
customs. The ways in which we act virtually everywhere around us are represented in this list of
places that the roots are found.
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Alongside a deeper understanding of the goal itself, its also beneficial to see what
thoughts around the world are speaking. Voices throughout the globe have spoken upon racial
injustice and the areas, roots, and structures with which it lives in. One of these voices is
Cardinal Nguyn Van Thun. He has spoken about racism and its roots regarding the World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. In
these documents, Van Thun makes a point of our desire to identify with others in our ever
growing world and how that has caused disarray and xenophobia (Van Thun 2). Cardinal
Nguyn then states that our preconceptions and passed-down ideals of other ethnic groups and
races must be overcome (4). Kevin Boyle as well as another representative from the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also spoke upon racial injustice in the
document Dimensions of Racism. Boyle begins the entire work by stating that knowledge is
important, especially for racism (Boyle 1). Doudou Dine, a second author of Dimensions of
Racism, later writes that root causes of racism are erosion and degradation of spiritual and
religious values and behavior (Dine 13). Lastly the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, who
released the document Racism and the Church: Overcoming the Idolatry on what racism really is
and how people experience it. In the document the church explains that racism is a hate for the
equal creations of God (Racism and the Church 9). The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod then
discusses the nature of the problem within us and that racism makes judgment about peoples
worth (Racism and the Church 10). Hearing the voice of others speak about these injustices is
critical in truly understanding them.
Both Toomer as well as Hughes lived and wrote in the same era. Toomer was born on the
26
th
of December in the year 1894, and died on March 30
th
(Storm Ending 276). Hughes, on
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the other hand, was born on February 1
st
of 1902, dying on the 22
nd
of May in 1967 (I, Too
99). Hughes spent much of his time working and writing from New York City, though earlier he
would write from Mexico, where his father lived. Toomer spent a large portion of his life writing
out of New York as well, with a bit of time spent in the south, where he was born ("Storm
Ending" 276). Toomer went to school in Georgia in 1921; he spent time there studying
agriculture, sociology, history, and psychology, though he never actually graduated with a degree
(Storm Ending 277). His most predominant known compilation is Cane, which was a
collection of many of his earlier written poems, which was published in 1923. Hughes writing
career really began in high school and with his father in Mexico, and then took off at Columbia
university in 1922 (Kansas Heritage 100). Hughes has significantly more work published, for
example The Weary Blues, The Ways of White Folks, and Chicago Defender ("I, Too" 100). The
early 20
th
century was a time of reform on multiple levels, for example, womens rights, race,
and working rights were all being changed. This proved formative to their writings. Toomer
himself was often mistaken as white due to his much lighter skin tone, however his agent and he
always answered the question with neither white nor black, American. Hughes own ideals
upon racism, however, did not begin to incept until he encountered copious amounts of racism at
Columbia University (Kansas Heritage).
In regards to their history, Toomer and Hughes both used a variety of poetry techniques
and styles to accommodate to the needs of the message they were purveying to the readers. In his
poems, Toomer would either write in a lyrical rhyme schemed tone or in free verse. His writing
style in Cane was described as southern psychological realism by Houston A. Baker Jr., an
African American author (Poetry Foundation). Cane has often been regarded as ingenious due to
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its literary experimentation and portrayal of African-American characters and culture (Poetry
Foundation). Hughes writing was predominantly free verse, however he would occasionally use
rhythms of blues and jazz. It was this writing style which set Hughes apart from the crowd and
allowed for him to create a genuinely new sound of poetry (Kansas Heritage). Toomer and
Hughes both focused on similar themes throughout their lives, however. The theme of an
African-Americans identity is recurring in the majority of their poetry, as well as the abuse they
received.
During this time of innovative writing for Toomer and Hughes was the Harlem
Renaissance, a period in the early 20
th
century in which African-American literature experienced
a sort of rebirth of culture and ideas. Harlem was an area regarded as the Negro capital of the
world, and it was the central location of the sort of rebirth that African-American culture
received (Rhodes). Advancements across all boards of literature and thinking took place,
inspiring Toomer and Hughes poetry. A particular way of thinking known as idealism began to
truly surface during the Harlem Renaissance, especially the idea of forgiveness and
reconciliation for the world (Rhodes). The Harlem Renaissance and its idealist beliefs are found
to be prevalent throughout Toomers and Hughes writing. For example, Hughes referring to
himself as America too in I, Too, not something else. Toomer uses imagery like the earth being
sweet and having all of us together as a good thing.
With a deeper understanding of their lives it is more apparent that in these four poems
Toomer and Hughes wrote, they combat racial injustice and its roots. Understanding roots of
injustice, particularly injustice which the African-American population could relate to, appeared
to be a primary aspect of the Harlem Renaissance writing. These two authors in particular
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exemplify this. The four poems listed prior do more than address the roots of racial injustice,
however; they battle the societal and natural attachment to the roots. The first poem is I, Too,
in which Hughes writes about a person envisioning a perfect America. The Weary Blues, a
second poem by Hughes, is about an ancient musician and the symbolism of his life. Toomer
brings Storm Ending, a brief poem about a ravaging storm coming to an ominous close, and
Song of the Son, a poem about the history of slavery and the dilemma it created today. All of
these poems have been examined and explained by professors and writers across the United
States, most of which were done in the recent turn of the century by a diverse group of
individuals and groups.
In the first poem which was introduced, I, Too, Hughes uses who we are as Americans
to explain segregation and to break down that barrier. Sheri Karmiol from the Gale Virtual
Reference Library and a professor from the University of New Mexico, explains that American
identity is introduced as a theme in I, Too, which Hughes uses to express privilege and
entitlement (101). Karmiol continues to explain that Hughes is envisioning a future changed and
a society created with equality for both races (109). Hughes uses these simple acts of eating
together as well as our innate identity as Americans to display racism amongst us. In the poem,
Hughes uses future tense words to show his envisioning of the future, for example in line 8 when
he uses the phrase Tomorrow. He also shows that it is our entire American society which has
roots of racism in it through announcing I, too, am America in line 19 of the poem. It is this
writing which shows critics and scholars that Hughes was an avid combatant of racial injustice.
Hughes also displays rooted racism and combats it in The Weary Blues, in which these
injustices are shown through a weathered musician and his entire life. Steven Tracy, an analyst
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from the University of Illinois, explains that in the poem, there is immense symbolism of the old
musician sort of accepting Western culture and ways as his black hands progress down the white
keys of the piano (2). Tracy continues to explain that these blues and the music he creates are
"what help him keep his identity". This man has spent his entire life singing songs of sadness and
slavery, and on what seems to be his death bed, he gives in to the western ways of life. Hughes
appears to be emphasizing the poverty, spiritual and material, of the singer and the piano in line
10, writing He made that poor piano moan with melody. Hughes also shows a desire to
emphasize that the man is alone in his life and hes become lost in a different world, such in line
19, Aint got nobody in all this world. Hughes uses the depravity of American society and its
effects on African-American musicians as well as others to create poetry such as The Weary
Blues.
Similar to Hughes active battle, Jean Toomer fights using Storm Ending to express
racism through nature. In this poem, Toomers use of nature shows a more naturalistic, inherent
hate that Cardinal Nguyn spoke upon. Sheldon Goldfarb, a specialist in Victorian literature from
Gale Virtual Reference Library, explains that the African-American society is being harmed at
the hands of white society inside the poem (285). Goldfarb also explains that the poem is often
viewed as an image of the difficult situation of African Americans (280). In the poem, Toomer
uses beauty to paint pictures of African Americans as equal brethren, for example in line 1,
Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,. Toomer also writes about bleeding rain in
line 7 of the poem, a phrase which carries implication of an ominous future if this injustice
remains to be carried out. Toomers use of nature to combat racial injustice in his poem clearly
evident.
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Not only does Toomer use nature to combat racism, but also the history of racism coming
from slavery in the poem Song of the Son. In the poem, Toomer appears to be imploring
people to not forget about slavery, this massive root of injustice. He writes in an extremely
aggressive manner through confronting the reader about slavery and being very abrupt with his
phrasing in the poem. Toomer often uses a technique where he swaps two or three words for two
lines which appear to create this sort of emphasis and abruptness. This is found in lines 14-15
when Toomer writes To catch thy plaintive soul, leaving, soon gone. / Leaving, to catch thy
plaintive soul soon gone. Toomer also uses the extended metaphor of a plum in line 16 which
develops a tree, which is a rooted life form just as slavery is. Song of the Son shows Toomer
begging the people of the world to never forget about slavery so that we may all combat racial
injustice and its roots ourselves.
From these four poems which have been analyzed as well as their entire lives, Langston
Hughes and Jean Toomer are two poets who have addressed roots of racism and battled the
injustices in America. Hughes and Toomer seized the opportunity of expressing racial injustice
and the roots of this injustice through their poetry. The two have envisioned a world with
fraternity, a world with solidarity, and a world with openness to others. These worlds of peace,
fraternity, and openness to others affect all of humanity. In order to take progressive steps
towards this world, society has to realize that these injustice apply to every single person in one
way or the other. The world has to embrace the fact that living together on Earth can be a
peaceful time, and recognizing these roots will bolster that peace.
The poetry that Toomer and Hughes wrote through their lives shows that we can
recognize and combat the racial injustice. These artists have demonstrated that poetry is a perfect
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way of expressing ideas because it is a truly open forum for your thought, and that nothing stands
in the way of putting something down on paper. This availability is what makes poetry so
capable of changing the world as we know it. Toomer and Hughes were amongst the first African
American poets to really take advantage of poetry, which sparked the Harlem Renaissance. That
rebirth of African-American literature changed the way that people enjoy poetry today,
throughout the world.
















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Works Cited
Boyle, Kevin. "Introduction." Dimensions of Racism. New York and Geneva: OHCR, 2005.
OHCR.org. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Dine, Doudou. "Eliminating racism in a changing world: arguments for a new strategy."
Dimensions of Racism. New York and Geneva: OHCR, 2005. OHCR.org. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Hughes, Langston. "I, Too". Poetryfoundation.org. 2004. The Collected Poems of Langston
Hughes. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
---. "The Weary Blues." Poetryfoundation.org. 1994. Selected Poems. 3 Apr. 2014.
"I, Too." Poetry for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 30. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 97-117. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Jones, Robert B. Jean Toomers Life and Career. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Web.
3 Apr. 2014.
Jean Toomer. Poetry Foundation. The Poetry Foundation, 2014. Web. 4 May 2014.
Langston Hughes Biography. Kansasheritage.org. The Kansas Heritage Group, 1986. Web. 4
May 2014.
"Racism and the Necessity of a Christian Response." Racism and the Church: Overcoming the
Idolatry. St. Louis: Commission on Theology and Church Relations, 1994. LCMS.org. Web.
8 Apr. 2014.
Rhodes, Henry. The Social Contribution of the Harlem Renaissance. Yale-New Haven Teachers
Institute. New Haven: Yale University. 1978. web. 21 Apr. 2014.
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"Storm Ending." Poetry for Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 31. Detroit: Gale, 2010.
274-293. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Toomer, Jean. "Song of the Son." Poets.org. 2014. Academy of American Poets. Web. 3 Apr.
2014.
---. "Storm Ending." Poets.org. 2014. Academy of American Poets. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Tracy, Steven. C. Langston Hughes and the Blues. Urbana, University of Illinois press. 1988.
Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Van Thun, Nguyn and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi. "Contribution to the World Conference
Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance." The Holy
See. The Vatican. 28 Aug. 2001. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
"William Rogers Quotes." willrogers.com. Will Rogers Memorial Museums, 2014. Web. 4 May
2014.






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Appendix A
I, Too by Langston Hughes (1926)
I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
Ill be at the table
When company comes.
Nobodyll dare
Say to me,
Eat in the kitchen,
Then.

Besides,
Theyll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed

I, too, am America.

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Appendix B
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes (1925)
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway. . . .
He did a lazy sway. . . .
To the tune o those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black mans soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan
Aint got nobody in all this world,
Aint got nobody but ma self.
Is gwine to quit ma frownin
And put ma troubles on the shelf.

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more
I got the Weary Blues
And I cant be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And cant be satisfied
I aint happy no mo
And I wish that I had died.
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man thats dead.
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Appendix C
Storm Ending by Jean Toomer (1922)
Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,
Great, hollow, bell-like flowers,
Rumbling in the wind,
Stretching clappers to strike our ears . . .
Full-lipped flowers
Bitten by the sun
Bleeding rain
Dripping rain like golden honey
And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.

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Appendix D
Song of the Son by Jean Toomer (1923)
Pour O pour that parting soul in song,
O pour it in the sawdust glow of night,
Into the velvet pine-smoke air tonight,
And let the valley carry it along.
And let the valley carry it along.

O land and soil, red soil and sweet-gum tree,
So scant of grass, so profligate of pines,
Now just before an epochs sun declines
Thy son, in time, I have returned to thee.
Thy son, I have in time returned to thee.

In time, for though the sun is setting on
A song-lit race of slaves, it has not set;
Though late, O soil, it is not too late yet
To catch thy plaintive soul, leaving, soon gone,
Leaving, to catch thy plaintive soul soon gone.

O Negro slaves, dark purple ripened plums,
Squeezed, and bursting in the pine-wood air,
Passing, before they stripped the old tree bare
One plum was saved for me, one seed becomes

An everlasting song, a singing tree,
Caroling softly souls of slavery,
What they were, and what they are to me,
Caroling softly souls of slavery.

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Appendix E
Analysis of "Song of the Son" by Jean Toomer, analysis by Nicholas Johnsen

Subject
o "First glance" subject appears to be the history of slavery
o Focuses on beautiful aspects as opposed to ugly ones
o The deeper subject of the poem appears to be the passing/forgetting of slavery
o Toomer does not want the American people to forget about slavery

Context
o Toomer wrote and added to book Cranes in 1923
! Amidst the Harlem Renaissance, a rebirth of black literature in the early
20th century
o Toomer lived in both black and white societies throughout his life and growing up
as a child
o Toomer's parents were born into slavery, making even more of a personal
connection
o Written 60 years after abolishment

Form
o First line of poem is trochee
o Rest of poem alternates between trochee/anapset+trochee
o Trochee used often during description of nature
o Anapset introduced when Toomer wants audience to do something

Word Choice
o Toomer uses a common theme of nature throughout entire poem
o Often uses a technique where he swaps two or three words in a line for two lines,
creates emphasis
! "To catch, thy plaintive soul, leaving, soon gone" (14)
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! "Leaving, to catch thy plaintive soul soon gone" (15)
o Later uses extended metaphor of a plum developing a tree, which is a rooted life
form like slavery should be rooted so we do not forget

Grad at Grad
o Slavery is arguably the largest root cause of racism across the world by
dehumanizing others
o Racism is an extremely predominant injustice seen throughout the world for all of
time

SRP Thesis
o Toomer implores the Americans to not forget this root of injustice(slavery)
o Done aggressively through confronting us about slavery and being very abrupt
with his phrasing in the poem