This poem reminds me of an astute remark made by William Russell - the Times correspondent - in his reports on his journey through the South in the build up to the Civil War. To the effect that the English might smugly congratulate themselves on having abolished slavery in their possessions in 1837, but they could never have done it if the plantations had been in Lancashire
And it reminds me of the panic about West Indian migration - (England is the Mother country; the Queen is our Queen) - which led to the passing of the Commonwealth Immigration Act in 1961
I, too, sing America
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll sit 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
Langston Hughes
See also: l'affaire Patrick Mercer
Brothers under the skin?
