Dinner Guest: Me
Langston Hughes, Courtesy of the New York Public Library
I came across Langston Hughes’ poem "Dinner Guest: Me." Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin Missouri and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and several other Midwestern communities at the turn of the century. He eventually settled in Harlem where he lived until his death in 1967. This poem is about race relations in one of New York’s black intellectual community their struggled with the promises of white liberal politicians.
Dinner Guest: Me
I know I am
The Negro Problem
Being wined and dined,
Answering the usual questions
That come to white mind
Which seeks demurely
To Probe in polite way
The why and wherewithal
Of darkness U.S.A.--
Wondering how things got this way
In current democratic night,
Murmuring gently
Over fraises du bois,
"I'm so ashamed of being white."
The lobster is delicious,
The wine divine,
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine.
To be a Problem on
Park Avenue at eight
Is not so bad.
Solutions to the Problem,
Of course, wait.
