Langston Hughes: Poems Lesson Plan

What is the underlying message of the children's rhymes in "Children's Rhymes"?

The speaker considers how, when he was a child, the rhymes he and other children sang were lighthearted and innocent. Now, he hears the children singing rhymes about their oppression and lack of rights. In the first rhyme, the children imply that the creator of the white children is not their creator. Therefore, they know they will not be allowed to be President. In the second rhyme, the children mention that their lack of freedom and the nation's inequality "bugs" them, but they know it does not bug the white children. In the third rhyme, the children state that "Liberty and Justice" is...