Throughout Langston Hughes' poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "I, Too," he discusses issues of equality and racism. When Hughes wrote these poems, African Americans were not accepted by white Americans. Blacks were discriminated against and killed violently; they had to sit in the back seats of buses and were denied the right to vote, to name just a few issues. With this type of separation so widespread, both blacks and whites feared for their lives. The symbolism in this poem represents the relationships between rivers and the history of African American life. The poem is also structured to provide the unity of African American history. Hughes also uses imagery to allow readers to understand the history and background of African Americans. Hughes refers to roots as deep as trees and to "roots" in a symbolic sense. Here the author wants readers to know that everyone is created equal. The "roots" he talks about represent the blood that each of us has in our veins. Hughes writes, “I have known rivers as old as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (lines 2-3). Here the “I” represents African Americans as a whole. The author talks about the ancient rivers which are represented by the blood flowing in the human body. The ancient rivers also represent the history of African Americans to show where they have been and how far they have come. Hughes continues to say, “I bathed in the Euphrates when the dawn was young. I built my hut near the Congo and it put me to sleep. I looked at the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the song of Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went to New Orleans, and I saw his m... middle of paper... verse Hughes went on to say, “Besides, they “I'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed” ( Lines 15-17). Hughes is saying that even if you sent me to eat in the kitchen when guests come, it doesn't break me but only makes me stronger and more beautiful. He also keeps saying he sings the National Anthem/Star Spangle Banner like everyone else. This means that even though he is black, he is also American. In conclusion, these two poems by Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “I, Too Sing,” are a cry for equality and freedom in America. . Even though he was sent to the kitchen to eat when visitors arrived, Hughes says he eats well; he finds it funny that while he was isolated he ate well. As in the last stanza of the poem, “I too am American,” this means that multiple races are involved in making up the faces of America..