It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am part of you.
That’s American. Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---,
although you’re older---and white---
and somewhat more free.
This is my theme for English B.
Langston Hughes wrote this poem in 1951 as his English class assignment. The speaker reflects on himself, noting that he is twenty-two years old, and the only “colored” student in his class. This poem invites the reader to think about what it means to be “colored.”
This stanza begins by expressing his belief that it is hard to know what is true at such a young age. “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me at twenty-two, my age.” Then he lists some of the commonplace but meaningful things he likes to do: eat, sleep, “understand life,” and listen to music. Being “colored” doesn’t preclude him from liking the same things that white people like. “I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. / I like to work, read, learn, and understand life” (Hughes 21-22). By showing that he has things in common with his peers, even though they are very different by “color,” he shows that it is difficult to find out who he is and how to fit in this world. He explains these very basic things about himself because he lives in a world where his skin means that he is poorly understood; a white person would never explain to a white person that he likes to eat, because everyone knows that every person likes that. A “colored” person in 1951 might not feel so automatically understood by white people, though.
He identifies himself with Harlem. He is part of Harlem, which is a black neighborhood, but also he is part of this class, which is mostly white. “I guess I’m what / I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you” (Hughes 17-18). The speaker does not truly figure out who he is (he uses “I guess”) but he acknowledges that Harlem is part of him because it is what he hears. Also, he speaks to Harlem and the reader, possibly because they are part of each other, or maybe to make the tone of this essay less formal. While he holds his African American culture dear, he also knows that he has much in common with people of other races. “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like/ the same things other folks like who are other races” (Hughes 25-26). This is related to his earlier discussion of things like “eat, drink, and be in love” that all humans like. He also goes on to explain that he likes “Bessie, bop, and Bach.” The first two refer to Bessie Smith, a blues singer, and jazz, both of which are very “colored” music to like. Bach, on the other hand, is a more “white” kind of music, which emphasizes his connection to white culture. Then he comes to the conclusion that even though he is different from his classmates in some ways, they are all American with common study goals. They learned together and live along with each other, and share many things in common. Aside from color, they are almost the same. Therefore, he, his peers, and his instructor will all learn from each other, enhance their knowledge, and influence each other. “You are white--- / yet a part of me, as I am a part of you” (31-32). He is wondering whether his perspective may not the same as his white instructor’s. In fact, they are linked by modern culture, whether they want it or not. Their perspectives are not the same, but not totally opposite either. They are different colors, but both linked by culture; their colors are different, but they are a part of each other. They could share their own truth even though the instructor has more experience of being older, white, and “morefree.” Everyone has a different character, a different perspective and a different truth. “So will my page be colored that I write?” (Hughes 27) Here, Hughes is considering what “colored” means: is there something “colored” about him besides his skin that will get on his page?
Through this stanza, Langston Hughes expresses his true thoughts and what he is wondering about being “colored”, then finds out he has much in common with other people besides color. Even though there are multiple types of American, they could be all called American. Black, young, white, old, free, are all Americans. They are all part of each other, even if they don’t always get along, because they are formed by what they see every day both in and out of Harlem.
