Through Langston Hughes' poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "Me Too", he discusses issues of equality and racism. When Hughes was writing these poems, African Americans were not accepted by white Americans. Black people were discriminated against and violently killed; they had to sit in the back of buses and were denied the right to vote, to name just a few issues. Faced with this type of separation, both blacks and whites feared for their lives. The symbolism of this poem represents the relationships between rivers and the history of African American life. The poem is also structured to ensure the unity of African American history. Hughes also uses images for readers to understand the history and background of African Americans. Hughes refers to the deep roots of trees as well as “roots” in a symbolic sense. Here the author wants readers to know that everyone is created equal. The “roots” he speaks of represent the blood that everyone has in their 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 ancient rivers which are represented by the blood flowing through the human body. 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 cabin near the Congo and it put me to sleep. I looked down at the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the song of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln came down to New Orleans, and I saw his middle...... middle of paper ... stanza Hughes went on to say, "Besides, they are I will see how beautiful I am and I will be ashamed” (Lines 15-17). Hughes says even though you sent me to eat in the kitchen when visitors come, it doesn't break me but only makes it stronger and more beautiful. He also continues to say that he sings the National Anthem/Star Spangle Banner the same way everyone else does. 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. . Although he was sent to the kitchen to eat when visitors arrived, Hughes says he eats well; he finds it amusing that while he is isolated, he eats 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..