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Binary Boxes MP 2 - SHOWCASE

Evan Lott 


Ms. Spencer 


English 111 Composition Literature 


10 January 2025 


Binary Boxes 


The Harlem Renaissance is commonly known as a time of flourishing African American art, literature, jazz, and philosophy. What is less widely known is American pride as a form of protest that grew out of it. An American Black pride that grew largely from the poets of the time, one of the biggest being Langston Hughes. This pride is something that would be carried into Dr. Martin Luther King's protests and speeches where he insisted that his dream is rooted in the American Dream. It would be carried into BLM protests where photographs of the American flag flew. It is still carried to modern-day rap and Black artistry (Nathan). It still leaves the question: how could pride come from a country that shows so much hate?  

In Langston Hughes’s story, “Seven People Dancing the metaphor of the dance feels like it’s celebrating freedom and connection. At first glance, it seems like a moment of joy—people coming together, differences embraced, and everyone invited to be part of something bigger. But as the story goes on, it becomes clear that this dance isn’t what it seems. It’s not about celebrating individuality or community; it’s about survival. The party doesn’t exist to create bonds or celebrate diversity—it’s a way to make rent. The host isn’t participating in the celebration but instead turns his space into a tool for financial survival. Marcel’s alienation is further shown by his queer identity. LGBTQ+ people often experience the world through a lens of invisibility due to stereotypes that push them into a ‘binary box’ of gender; the correlation between gender and sex is normality that limits expression because it creates difference in those that do not conform, “perhaps this construct called ‘sex’ is as culturally constructed as gender; indeed, perhaps it was always already gender with the consequence that the distinction between sex and gender turns out to be no distinction at all” (Butler 1990, 9). Hughes’s story embodies this struggle for recognition. Marcel is not openly navigating his queerness, nor is his identity fully embraced by those around him. He is not participating in the dance of self-expression and connection; rather, he is distanced from it by his financial needs and his internal conflicts.   

The limitations imposed on the dance—both in terms of its economic function and its emotional disconnect—serve as a metaphor for how queer people of color are often excluded from spaces of freedom and self-expression. While the partygoers may appear to be engaging in a celebration, they are using Marcel's space for their enjoyment, with little regard for his needs or desires, “The other couples laughed and the laughter bounced, like very hard rubber balls, around the room, not like tennis balls but like solid hard rubber balls, and Marcel laughed, too. Marcel’s laughter was like a painter’s ground cloth that protects the furniture and anything else under a ceiling being painted” (Hughes).  This demonstrates the off-putting and almost dangerous nature of the laughter about Marcel who was on guard to protect. Just as Marcel’s party is a vehicle for personal survival rather than celebration, queer people of color are often expected to perform their identities in ways that fit standards so as not to cause danger. Even in environments of ‘acceptance and safety’ like workplaces and schools, queer people and people of color can be asked to perform their diversity. Marcel’s character reflects the feelings of these groups, as even in an environment that is meant to be safe and fun, he is still put in the position to cover his identity with a cloth. The abrupt ending, which is filled with shouting and orders, demonstrates that there is still tension and danger, and it further explains why Marcel is safer being closed and reserved even in this ‘fun’ environment.  

In the poem, “I, too” Langston Hughes shows us a narrative that still rings true with Black empowerment movements today. It is a misconception that BIPOC have a strong hatred for America, not only is this sentiment false, but it’s also detrimental as it separates people of color from ‘loving Americans’. Not like America when the relationship with America is not that simple. For people of color, many want change in America, but that does not change the respect for the country that was built on their backs. The imagery is still traced today with famous activists in the black community; in rapper A$AP Rocky’s album for Long.Live.A$AP, a musician from Harlem, we see him wrapped in the American flag, and in other promotional photos, there are pictures of Rocky with the flag flying over his back. Hughes's poem ends powerfully, “tomorrow / I’ll be at the table / when company comes / Nobody’ll dare / say to me / ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ / Then. / Besides, / they’ll see how beautiful I am / and be ashamed- / I, too, am America” (I, too). No matter how much hurt there is to reform, even if it ever is easier to move to another country. It is vital to stay because the seat was earned long ago. Rocky exemplifies what Langston Hughes aimed to do long ago, which is to show that the American flag was built upon the backs of people of color and should therefore fly high above them with pride.  

Hughes furthers this idea in his poem, “Let America Be America Again”. Between each triumphant stanza emphasizing the American dream, he gives the audience his experience as an American, “Let it be the pioneer on the plain / seeking a home where he himself is free / (America never was America to me)” (Let America Be America Again). Even though the poem is a criticism of America, the criticism still stems from the pride Hughes feels. In the end, Hughes states, “We, the people, must redeem / The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers / The mountains and the endless plain / All, all the stretch of these great green states” (Let America Be America Again). By using ‘We, the people’ and other allusions to early America, along with the imagery of beautiful green lands, Hughes makes the reader think about new beginnings through a lens that shows America's beauty.  

Throughout Hughes's career, he gave America the view of the underrepresented. Not only did he give this experience, but he explained the experience to those who would not understand the perspective at the time by communicating feelings. Hughes forces us to confront the limitations of our understanding of Marcel’s experience. This mirrors the social dynamics that queer people of color face, where their experiences are often misunderstood, ignored, or distorted by those who do not share their identities. During a time when people were defining what it meant to be Black, defining what it meant to live in America, and the role of artistry Langston Hughes expanded a philosophy of Black America that would be used in movements to come. Near the end of Dr. King’s life, he spoke in an interview in which he stated that his dream at certain points had turned into a nightmare, due to the hatred and death that resulted from the peaceful protests and the disproportionate killings of black men in the Vietnam war. He became friends with Malcolm X as he understood there was an extent to how peaceful one could be. Dr. King may not have had true pride for America and Langston Hughes may not have had true Pride for America. In a world that painted and paints BIPOC and the left wing against America to justify villainization. It has always been important to show a front of American Pride as a form of survival and to garner support. 

 

 

Works Cited 

 

 

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1999. 

 

Delgado, Stefancic, et al. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. New York University Press, 2017. 

 

Hughes, Langston. “‘seven People Dancing,’ by Langston Hughes.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 30 May 2016, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/06/seven-people-dancing-by-langston-hughes 

 

“I, Too.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too 

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