Analysis of "Negro"
I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa. I’ve been a slave: Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean. I brushed the boots of Washington. I’ve been a worker: Under my hand the pyramids arose. I made mortar for the Woolworth Building. I’ve been a singer: All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime. I’ve been a victim: The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo. They lynch me still in Mississippi. I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa. |
The first stanza talks about the speakers identity of being an African American. Repeats the word black to add emphasis on his color. The line, "Black like the depths of my Africa" connects all Blacks with a common home (Hernton). The next stanza mentions Caesar and George Washington who are both symbols of power. The thing the speaker did for these men represents the way they were treated. They were not respected when they were slaves and even after slavery was abolished.
Stanza three has the lines, "Under my hand the pyramids arose" and "I made mortar for the Woolworth building." These two lines shows the contributions African Americans made in the past. This also refers to them being slaves and doing this without any say. The following stanza alludes to African Americans coming over from Africa to the South for slavery. The line, "All the way from Africa to Georgia" proves this. The last line in the stanza reads, "I made ragtime" which shows that struggles still exist. The succeeding stanza talks about the oppression in the Congo in the past, and how they get lynched in Mississippi now. Hughes is showing that the hardships Blacks faced are still around today and that things need to change. The final stanza is a repeat of the first. The repetition gives the reader a chance to reflect on the poem and its meaning. Hughes wants the reader to have an emotion and disgust towards the way African Americans were and are treated (Hernton). |