In his most famous short story collection, “The Ways of White Folks”, Hughes tells stories of segregation from the point of view of both whites and blacks, the ongoing theme as the title suggest being the ways whites oppress in era of Jim Crow. Langston Hughes work spoke of hope and tried to often empower the oppressed in his poems, such as in his poem “Democracy”. Hughes’ description of a sole black student in the poem “Theme For English B” captures the alienation that’s been magnified by race, and his poem “Madam and her Madam” (where a hard working black maid calls out the white woman she works for after the latter claims there is no barriers between them) speaks of the utter obviousness and destructive naivety whites embodies in a white privileged society. His short stories and poems speak of the nuances and horrors of racial hatred and discrimination. Rarely has there been a writer who could deliver such strong wisdom, wit and a sense for justice in his prose. Hughes was the author of several plays, dozens of poems, two biographies as well as a slew of other writing projects. 1902-1967) is one of those writers that don’t need an introduction.
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