For this FINAL PAPER, you will use one of your previous short response topics and expand it to a 3-6 page, research essay. Your essay should include: Purpose driven Thesis Support for Thesis  (releva

Prachita Uprety

EDUC 1300

July 23, 2019

Prof. Angela Taylor

Belonging in America by the Hispanic and the Black community

In the poems “I too” by Langston Hughes and “I too sing America” by Julia Alverez, the poets write about feeling of belonging in America. Both the poets write about their right to be accepted in the country. Both the poets use 1st person perspective (I) in their poems. Langston Hughes was a black male poet born in America whereas Julia Alverez is a Dominican-American female poet.

Langston Hughes writes “they send me to eat in the kitchen” he mentions that when the guests arrive his servers didn’t allow him the comfort outside kitchen. But he also says “But I laugh, and I eat well, and grow strong” which means he’s optimistic. He is happy and he’s ready for the future. He is hopeful in the second stanza as he addresses “Tomorrow I’ll be at the table when nobody dares say to me “Eat in the kitchen” then beside they will see how beautiful I am and be ashamed. I too, am America.” Here he inscribes that people will no longer see him as the “other” and will be ashamed that they ever treated him that way. He expressed that even though he is the darker brother he is as equal as the majority and he too is America. The poem addresses that the poet is faced with a lot of dominance, but he has hope of freedom and belonging.

Alverez’s poem is a happier theme as she writes “Ya llegó el momento, our moment, under the sun— ese sol that shines on everyone. So, hit it maestro! give us that Latin beat, Uno-dos-tres! One-two-three! Ay sí, Yo también soy América I, too, am America.” In these verses she elucidates that it was their moment to sit under the sun as it shone upon everyone. She wants the band leader to give them the Latin the beat. Everybody would sing that they were America too. Alverez expresses strong desires to belong in America.

Although racism towards the Hispanic and Black community is still prevalent, I feel like both the poets made a huge impact on the readers. These poems make me, an immigrant in America have a belonging in America so I can definitely feel how strongly these poems must’ve impacted the readers then.

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston,”I too”. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1994.

Alverez, Julia. “I Too, Sing America.” How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, Hapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1991.