Cross by Langston Hughes

Cross

My old man's a white old man
And my old mother's black.
If ever I cursed my white old man
I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell,
I'm sorry for that evil wish
And now I wish her well
My old man died in a fine big house.
My ma died in a shack.
I wonder were I'm going to die,
Being neither white nor black?

© Langston Hughes. All rights res

Langston Hughes, in his poem “Cross” address the difficulty people of mixed race have of finding their identity and role in society. The title of the poem connotes a mixture of two things. For example when you cross breed you are mating two different species together to have a mixed offspring that does not exclusively belong to either group. Mulattos such as Hughes, similarly had trouble identifying themselves in times when racial tensions were high; whites didn’t accept them because they  had tainted blood and they didn’t completely fit into black society. The speaker identifies two old people in the first stanza. Besides their age, the only identifying characteristic that the speaker provides is that the man is white and that the woman is black. The differences in how he views them can be understood to be a result of their race.  I believe that the man and the woman represent his respective white and black side. The speaker condemns the old, white man which symbolizes him condemning his white background . Line 4 -5, “If I ever cursed my white, old man / I take my curses back” suggests that the speaker curses himself because he doesn’t want to be part white. However he is shown to be incapable of hating himself because he takes his curses back. This shift represents the speaker’s acceptance of himself as part white. Similarly, in the second stanza, the speaker condemns his black side through  is black, old mother on line 6 he wishes “she were in hell”. The speaker eventually accepts his black heritage on line 7-8, “I’m sorry for that evil wish / And now I wish her well”. The speaker’s reaction to his white and black side parallel each other because he first rejects both of them and also ultimately accepts both of them. However the poem ends with the speaker unclear of whether he should identify himself as black or white. The identity he assumes will cause him to lead vastly different lives. Lines 9 – 10, “My old man died in a fines big house. / My ma died in a shack” reveal that where you end up in life is skewed by your race. The last two lines of the poem, “I wonder where I’m gonna die / Being neither white nor black” create the ambiguity of which race the speaker should identify with. The lines suggest that it is not necessarily his choice of which race he will belong to but rather fate or some other external factor will decide. The last two lines could also be interpreted as suggesting that because the speaker is mulatto he will end up taking a new path in life different from a black or white person. He may neither take the path of the white man that causes him to die in the fine big house or the path of the black mother that causes him to die in a shack. This poem was written to raise questions but necessarily provide answers.