the american dream

Nick Tobin

Patricia Lespinasse 

Black Writers 1

11 December 2023

Racism and the American Dream

In the early 1900’s, many African Americans migrated to urban areas in the north, seeking better economic opportunities and fleeing racial injustices in the south. Once settled in the northern cities, a group of African American writers and artists embraced their new surroundings and started up a new movement inspired by the cities they were living in. The biggest sanctuary for these African Americans was the Harlem neighborhood in New York City. Many prominent African American writers and artists lived in Harlem, and the area inspired the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic and social movement based in Harlem and included not just writers but painters, jazz musicians and intellectuals. During the time of the Harlem Renaissance, many African American writers began to write about the social issues that were plaguing America and specifically the south. Two of the most prominent members of this movement were Langston Hughes and Claude McKay.  McKay and Hughes were two of the most prolific writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and they both addressed many significant issues throughout their careers. McKay and Hughes explored important themes that echoed the experiences of many of their peers and neighbors including racism, the working class and the American Dream, and these themes are prevalent throughout their works but especially in the poems If We Must Die and To One Coming North from Claude McKay and I Too and Mother to Son from Langston Hughes. 

Claude McKay’s poem If We Must Die is a poem about the treatment of African Americans in the south during the 1920’s. During this time, many African Americans were being unjustly lynched or killed by white southerners.  If We Must Die is a rallying cry to all of the African Americans who were being killed and tells them to fight back. In the opening stanza of the poem, McKay states that “If we must die, let it not be like hogs, Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursèd lot” (1005). It is with this perspective that McKay addresses the racial violence that had been so prevalent in the American south in the 1920’s. The poem can also be seen as a response to the race riots that were happening all throughout the American south.  McKay uses vivid imagery to heighten the tension of the poem and amp up his poem. With lines like “let it not be like hogs”, McKay paints a picture of African Americans being sent to die like animals sent to a slaughterhouse. McKay honors the fallen African Americans who have died violently in If We Must Die by highlighting the injustice of racial violence and racism and by encouraging future generations to stand up to injustice. 

McKay touches on the themes of the American Dream and emigration in his poem To One Coming North. In the poem, he addresses the challenges of many of the African Americans who were coming up north to escape the lack of economic opportunities rooted in the racism of the south. In the beginning of the poem, McKay goes through the process of moving north and the new conditions and surroundings of the north. McKay describes the winters of the north in the first stanza when he states “At first you'll joy to see the playful snow.” In his poem, McKay explains the struggle of moving up to a new place and trying to make it there. He talks about the pros and cons of moving up north and leaving the south. He describes the cold and feelings of leaving home. He states that "But Oh more than the changless southern isles, when spring has shed up the earth her charm, you'll love the Northland wreathed in golden smiles” (1006).  McKay is able to highlight a sense of economic opportunity, freedom and escape from the south. He does this through the imagery and language of the poem. McKay addresses the American Dream in multiple ways throughout, including hope for a better life through better economic opportunities and escape from oppression in the south. The chance for better opportunity also fits into the theme of African Americans striving to improve their economic situation and moving from working class to a higher standard of living. While McKay is hopeful, he does not shy away from the challenges of the migration north. McKay also explores the way that the racial discrimination and violence in the south has affected many African Americans who decided to move up north to escape the terror. To One Coming North highlights both the struggle and freedom that moving to the north can entail while remaining hopeful that the north can provide a better opportunity to live the American Dream. 

  While Claude McKay highlights the way of the American Dream in African Americans’ eyes, Langston Hughes highlights the way that African Americans were discriminated against in the south. Nowhere does Hughes capture that more than in his poem  I Too.  I Too speaks about how African Americans have been treated and their struggle and perseverance through the hopeless situations. In the poem, Hughes describes the person in the poem as a “darker brother”,  somebody who gets sent away from the table and out of political debates.  Hughes talks about how the upper white class in the south constantly ignores and forgets about African Americans. Hughes makes the argument that African Americams are just as important to the development of America as white people and he talks about how one day everyone will all be equal. Hughes proudly represents himself and his fellow African Americans with lines like “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’  Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed—”  (1308).  The poem also speaks to the way that the working class is just as important as the rich and upper class. Hughes uses this poem as self empowerment to African Americans dealing with discrimination, declaring “I, too, am American.” This simple sentence is a powerful statement that African Americans, largely working class or poor, are equal to any other American. They should not feel like second class citizens and should continue striving to improve their way in America. They should not feel satisfied with remaining part of a lower class and should see themselves as equal to all Americans, regardless of class or status. 

Similar to Claude McKay, Langston Hughes highlighted that the American Dream was harder to get for African Americans. However, Hughes focused his attention on the working class. Perhaps his best work on this topic is his poem “Mother to Son”. “Mother to Son” relays a conversation between a mother and her son about the trials and tribulations of her life moving up from the south and living in the north. Her tale mirrors that of many African Americans going through the struggle of making it in America.  Hughes describes the troubles that many African Americans had to go through in order to achieve the American Dream.  Hughes starts his poem with telling the son of the poem how hard her life has been with the lines “Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor  Bare." (1305) She explains that life has not been fair for her and many others like her. She goes on to explain that she has gone through many hardships in the name of her son, like segregation and moving up north.  As the poem goes on, the mother explains the hardships that she had to endure in order to achieve the dream of the life that she has with her son. The mother tells her son to keep preserving through the tides, as she tells her son that life has its challenges and that by pursuing these, it leads to a happy and successful life.  She states that  “So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.” (1305)  Langston Hughes highlights the struggles of the working class and the hope within it in his poem “Mother to Son”, which highlights how working class African Americans often struggled during the early 20th century but kept fighting regardless. 

In their careers during the Harlem Renaissance of the early 20th century, Claude McKay and Langston Hughes both put their heart and soul into their poems and writing. They often highlighted themes and struggles that were important to African Americans at the time. These themes included racism, the working class and the American Dream. Through Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” and “To One Coming North” and Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” and “I Too”, these writers showed how the African American working class struggled with racism and with achieving the American Dream while simultaneously offering hope for a brighter future for the African American community in Harlem and beyond. 

Works Cited

Gates, H. L., & Smith, V. (2014). The Norton anthology of African American literature. W.W. Norton & Company.