RESISTENSI DAN RESPON ETNIK AFRO-AMERIKA ATAS MARJINALISASI ETNIK ANGLO-AMERIKA DALAM PUISI-PUISI KARYA HUGHES

Abstract

This study aims to describe the forms of and responses to racial hegemony and the
Afro-American ethnic group’s self-identity in Hughes’s poems. It employed the qualitative
descriptive approach. The data sources were Hughes’s poems entitled “I, Too, Sing
Americaâ€, “Let America be America Againâ€, and “Theme for English Bâ€. The data were
analyzed by means of the postcolonialism theory, enriched by historical, socio-cultural,
and political information during the post-civil-war era till 1960s in the United States of
America. The findings are as follows. First, racial hegemony appears in the form of the
negative stereotype of the Afro-American ethnic group. The negative stereotype leads
to the marginalization of the Afro-American ethnic group, reflected by the injustice
and tyranny by the majority ethnic group. Second, responses to racial hegemony are
manifested in the Afro-American ethnic group’s awareness of dignity, self-esteem, and
self-confidence as foundations to demand equality and to show their existence amid the
white people ethnic group’s domination. Third, the pride of ethnic identity is actually a
potential to realize Amerian ideals as a nation highly respecting equality and diversity
as aspired by the founding fathers.