Famed American poet Langston Hughes' poem "Democracy" was first published as a part of one of Hughes' poetry collections (entitled One-Way Ticket) in 1949. Broadly, the poem is told from the perspective of a young Black man dealing with the racism of the time. Specifically, the young man has to deal with legally mandated segregation, institutionalized racism, and other inequality. The main point of the poem is that the United States can never be a true democracy (hence the title of the poem) until everyone—no matter their race—has the same rights as everyone else. After all, true democracy only comes around when there is widespread equality and freedom.
Although "Democracy" isn't one of Hughes' most popular poems, it is one of his most significant. In the poem, Hughes argued for something which was incredibly important to him: equality and freedom. Hughes' prose reflects this. The poem, which many critics have lauded as one of Hughes' best and most important, gives a passionate defense of the black experience in America and delicately—but forcefully—makes a case for equality.
