"I , Too" by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes wrote "I, Too" in the 1930's when black people were racially discriminated. I feel as if this poem empowers African Americans in that time to be proud of their skin color and say "I too, sing America", as if to mean that we are all human and we can all be part of of this nation no matter what our skin looks like. He explains in the poem that " They send him to the kitchen when company comes", I am assuming that "they" is referring to white people that try to push black people in the shadows.He responds to the situation with a positive attitude and does not let himself get put down by them. He says, " I laugh and eat well and grow strong". He has a very confident tone in this poem and works to show that you should never be ashamed of who you are and how you look. He feels like the white men want to make him feel ashamed of his dark skin color but he creates a humorous twist by saying " They'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed". He makes it clear that he is not ashamed and that the white men should be ashamed of not being able to see how beautiful Langston is. Of course Langston is only being humorous and is just trying to prove a point that he is okay comfortable and confident with his dark complexion. He approaches this situation very lightly and in a very effective way.