Ku Klux
I – The poem.
The poem was written in the early 1920′s . It belongs to the section ” Magnolia Flowers ”.
II – The title.
”Ku klux ” keeps referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan was a far-right organization founded in 1865 in the United States of America. It believed in white supremacy, white nationalism and was completely against immigration. In the twenties, the Ku Klux Klan grew to an incredible size performing different acts of violence against Catholics, Blacks, Jews, and radicals. The rapid growth of the KKK was one of the effects of the “Roaring Twenties”.
Langston Hughes had been working as a Busboy (a waiter/domestic in a restaurant ) around the time the Protestant White racist organization the ” Klu Klux Klan ” had organized a march through Washington DC. It might have inspired him.
III – Time and setting.
This poem, very closed to History, might take place in the 20’s, in the USA.
In the 1rst stanza, on the second verse, we’ve got a piece of information: ” some lonesome place ”. So, the story could take place anywhere, but far from the other people’s view. In fact, the Klansmen didn’t want to be seen, because they could have been arrested and put in jail.
IV – Dramatic situation.
It’s a singular first-person narrative point of view : one may quote, in the second stanza ” I said ” . This man might be a black one, because he suffers racism from the KKK.
There is also a reported speech ” They said ” , ”The white man said” and ” A klansman said ”.
We can notice an evolution in the way the speaker calls them. In fact, little by little, we discover who these men are. At first, we haven’t got any precise piece of information, except that there are many men. Then, we know they are white. And at the end, it becomes obvious that they are members of the KKK, thanks to the word ” Klansman”.
There is a kind of impossible dialogue before violence, a one which will lead to nothing.
V – Structure.
The poem is organized into 5 equal stanzas. In fact, each stanza is composed of 4 verses.
The first stanza is a quite violent presentation of the situation, because we directly know that racist people want to threaten somebody, probably a black man, by uttering ” great white race ”. Moreover, they are in an isolate place, so nobody could see them.
In the second stanza, the man answers to the question calmly, in a peaceful way. He is not disrespectful, as he says ” Mister ” but it seems ironical because he is assaulted.
In the third stanza, ”The white man” is asking another question but, the men don’t let time to the guy to answer because, in the fourth stanza, we know that they hit him.
In the fifth stanza, we know who these men are, thanks to the word ” klansman ”. In fact, there are members of the Ku Klux Klan.
VI – Themes.
In the poem "Ku Klux“, Hughes tells us of a black man being assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan. At the beginning, the man is verbally assaulted, then struck on the head, and finally kicked once on the ground. While a first reading may only show the negative side of a lynch mob (a mob that kills a person for some presumed offense without legal authority) , a closer reading will bring to light the peaceful nature of Hughes. We can notice the man in the poem does not talk back, nor does he fight back. Hughes delivers his message by showing how a passive resistance stance can do more damage than an aggressive retaliation . It makes me think of the “non-violence“ of Gandhi, which came later but which also condemned him. The irony in the poem makes one feel and think that the "great white race" is not so great. The speaker and also Langston Hughes want to take the mickey out of the Klansmen’s behaviour and pride. They are so proud that they don’t realize how stupid they are.
VII – Language and Imagery.
We can also see some figures of speech. In the first stanza there's a repetition at the first and the third verses with "They“ (anaphora), in the second stanza at the first and third verses with "I" and in the fourth stanza at the second and the third verses with "And".
There's a rhyme in the first stanza with "Place" and "Race", in the third stanza with "Be" and "Me", and in the fifth with "Face" and "Race".
We can also see an assonance in the fourth stanza with "Down" and "Ground".
The sentence, the rhetoric question about the great white race which is repeated in the first and the last stanza shows that everything is concentrate around it.
VIII – Conclusion.
Thanks to this Poem, Langston Hughes denounces racism, which was very present at that time. To my mind, it’s a very stirring poem which represents exactly the situation, all the violence.
Langston Hughes was also a target from the racist people : His mother was black and his father was white, so his family had endured racism and cruelty for having a biracial child during that time.
Because he suffered discrimination at home and in society, and because he couldn’t bear any kind of racism, he became very involved in poetry, to denounce what happened, to be recognize as a smart man and a full human being. In a way, he fought for his freedom, and for all the black community’s.