You and your whole race.
Look down upon the town in which you live
And be ashamed.
Look down upon white folks
And upon yourselves
And be ashamed
That such supine poverty exists there,
That such stupid ignorance breeds children there
Behind such humble shelters of despair—
That you yourselves have not the sense to care
Nor the manhood to stand up and say
I dare you to come one step nearer, evil world,
With your hands of greed seeking to touch my throat,
I dare you to come one step nearer me:
When you can say that
you will be free!
a very powerful poem about what happens when we don't share and greed takes over us.
I always loved how, when reading his poems, Hughes made me feel like he was talking directly to me. I read this poem as a child and felt very stirred by it. I'm a middle-class white woman, and I still felt like this was pointed at me, both accusing me of my faults and encouraging me to be better. I love Langston Hughes.
I dare you to come one step nearer, evil world, With your hands of greed seeking to touch my throat, I dare you to come one step nearer me: very good poem. tony
A very even-handed cosideration of his owm negro people. Fair enough criticism.
Excellent great poem written on the RACE and peoples' fundamental living rights discrimination
........an interesting write ★