Afro-American rights to equality reflected in James Langston Hughes’ poems

ABSTRACT

Poem is the part of literary work which has beautiful word and good messages for the readers. Through poem, the poet expresses his feeling and emotion which inspiring the reader and gives the information about what happened in the past, because poem is possible to record the society’s history. In the three poems of Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, “The Negro Mother” and “Democracy” are reflects the struggle of rights to equality for the Afro-American’s community; the rights in all aspects of human life, including the equal rights in the politic, social, economic, and education, because many years ago, Afro-American who’s African ancestry were slaved in America and has no enough rights and freedom for their life. Those three poems of Langston Hughes’ are the sounds of protest to the equal rights for Afro-American and it is the type of struggle in the Harlem renaissance.

The objectives of this research are to know the struggle of Afro- American’s society to get their rights to equality reflects in Langston Hughes’ poems “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, “The Negro Mother”, and “Democracy”. By knowing the struggle of the Afro-American’s society in the past, the readers also can learn about the Afro-American’s as a part of American history. The other objective is to remind the readers about the human equality, that all of human in the world are equal. Has the equal rights and opportunity in the all aspects of human life; politic, social, economics, and education and should be treated equally without distinction.

This research is use the sociological criticism to criticize the poem. Sociological criticism is suitable for this research, because this analysis is based on the sociological phenomena, and the literary works is influenced by the social phenomena and social environment. The literary works is not written in the empty condition, many things were influenced the appearing of literary works. In this analysis, the researcher reflects the data from the poem to the real condition of the social life. Based on (Laurenson and Swingewood, 1971) there are three perspectives related to sociological criticism. They are; 1.The research which is look at the literary work as a social document that reflects the condition when literary works written 2. The research which is explains the literary works from the social condition of the poet/author, 3. The research which is catches the literary as a part of history and social culture.

The result of this study is that the Langston Hughes’ poems were reflects the social condition of Afro-American and as the protest of the maltreatment in America faced by Afro-American. Many Afro-American were treated injustices and unequal in the rights and opportunity. They were faced discrimination, segregation, separation, and many others maltreatment. Through the poems, the poet wants to remind the readers and all of the black America or Afro-American that all of human being is created equal and should be treated equally.