| |
A Place at the Table
Welcome to the A Place at the Table web page.
I, too
by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Knopf and Vintage Books.
Copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Poets.org <http://www.poets.org>
Introduction
In his poem "I, Too," Langston Hughes described how it felt to be a Black man living in the United States during the first part of the 20th century. But his words speak to the experience of all groups who have been pushed to the margins of American society. They also give voice to a sustaining conviction - that true equality will come.
Out of all the pain caused by exclusion, hatred and injustice in our nation's history, there has emerged another, more hopeful narrative. This narrative has been composed by the men and women who, when told by the larger society to "stay in their place," insisted that "their place" was at the American table.
As Americans, we are justly proud of the ideals of freedom, democracy and equality that are enshrined in our nation's founding documents - the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. Our challenge is to make them more than promises on paper. The stories you are about to read show how some ordinary Americans made those promises come alive, not just for themselves but for us all.
Units of Study
Students in groups of 3-5 are assigned one of the following units. Each student should read the main essay and related primary documents (linked below). Then the students work together to answer the study questions and complete a project (optional). Each student should select one of the writing assignments.
- 1 - Apostles of Liberty
(1768) Virginia Baptists challenge the state church in the name of religious freedom.
- 2 - Who Claims Me? (1851) Anti-slavery activists in Boston take a stand against the Fugitive Slave Law.
 3 - Freedom's Main Line (1870) Black citizens of Louisville, Ky. use civil disobedience to protest segregation on public streetcars.
- 4 - This Land Is Ours (1877) A leader of the Ponca tribe in Nebraska champions his people's right to their ancestral home.
- 5 - The Strike for Three Loaves (1912) Immigrant laborers in a Massachusetts mill town join forces to demand fair pay for a day's work.
- 6 - Road Trip for Suffrage (1915) Three activists embark on a daring cross-country journey, in support of women's voting rights.
- 7 - The House on Lemon Street (1916) A Riverside, Calif., family battles unjust laws aimed at immigrants of Japanese ancestry.
- 8 - A Tale of Two Schools (1945) Mexican American parents in Westminster, Calif., struggle to overturn the policy of school segregation.
- 9 - Against the Current (1974) Native Americans claim their treaty fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest.
- 10 - Wheels of Justice (1977) Disability rights activists stage a month-long sit-in at a government building in San Francisco.
- 11 - Going to Bat for Girls (1992) A Nebraska farm family questions the tradition of gender inequity in school sports.
- 12 - The Battle of Spanish Fork (1997) A gay Utah educator fights for her right to teach.
- Conclusion
- Essay: Becoming America by Maria Fleming
- Final Writing Assignment - Pick one:
- History books leave out the stories of many groups. What individuals or groups in your community would you invite to the table, and why?
- Each generation must carry the torch of freedom forward. What speciual challenges will you and your peers face in championing liberty and equality for everyone, and how will you meet those challenges?
Links and Further Reading
Top of Page
|
|
|
