movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that encouraged the "rebirth" of the black race. "Renaissance leaders to create a "New Negro" one who would attend concerts and Operas and would be economically and socially prepared to enter an ideally integrated American Society" (Floyd 4). Hughes traveled throughout the nation during his life and he witnessed the second class citizenship of people. Hughes wrote poetry not only about his life, but also about the lives and situations of people that he saw on his journey. These travels led Hughes to write poems such as "Cross" and " I Too, Sing America". In the poem " Cross" Hughes speaks of the struggle of a mulatto child being torn between being neither white nor black. In this poem, Hughes speaks of how having a mixed racial heritage can confuse and create bitter self-doubts (Cobb 108). In the poem Hughes writes:My old man died in a fine big house.My ma died in a shackI wonder where I'm gonna die,Being neither white nor black (9-12)This poem raises a racial question that was prevailing to the mulatto society of the time. Hughes saw the mulatto struggling to decide whether to "racially" be seen as white or black. This duality in life inspired Hughes. Then, he turned it into poetry. When Hughes writes "My old man's a white old man/My old man's a big fine house" (1,9) he is saying that being white got him a nice house that he lived in. Later in the poem he writes, "My old mother's black/ My ma died in a shack" (2, 10). He is injecting the notion that race is linked to living conditions. Then, Hughes imposes that great question that faced the mixed race person of the time when he says, "I wonder where I'm gonna die, /Being neither white nor black" (11-12). This is a perfect example of how Hughes' poetry makes the reader or listener think. The question is raised when you are torn between two worlds, where do you belong. Hughes stated in his ...
