ol.Epitomizing the plight of the black race in America, Langston Hughes writes,What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sunor does it fester like a soreand then runor does it sag like a heavy loador does it EXPLODE? (A Dream Deferred 305)Will the dream deferred one day explode? Will rage one day boil out of control? Will the momentum to overcome the most miserable of oppressed conditions subside only after achieving racial dominance? In his poem Dream Variation, Hughes metaphorically implies the probability of a racial reversal of power in America. He exclaims, Till the white day is done, illustrating that white dominance will one day end. And when he writes Night coming tenderly / Black like me, Hughes boldly proclaims, That is my dream! (373). Though this night, this day when the black race will rule, is coming ever so tenderly, it is, nevertheless, coming. Does Hughes alone have this dream? Or, is he speaking for a race of men and women who also have a dream? No, Hughes is not alone.Sterling Brown, in his poem Strong Men, outlines the black struggle in America, recounting the many victories over foes -- from slavery through prohibition. Like Hughes, Brown questions the inevitability of a final overcoming. Concerning the strength of the black race, Brown explains that after every battle, The strong men keep a-comin on / Gittin stronger . . . (413). Having overcome slavery, having successfully dealt with the hypocrisy of Reconstruction freedom, Brown writes,Today they shout prohibition at youThou shalt not thisThou shalt not thatReserved for whites onlyYou laugh. (413)The poem concludes:The strong men . . . coming onThe strong men gittin strongerStrong men . . . .Stronger . . . . (413)Yes, strong men are coming on. Yes, rage is growing; rage is festering.Although a desire, a passionate rage, has always pressed upward to overcome racial oppression, many have argued the improbability of success. ...
