Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

Audio Version- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0PkzRtw_cM

 Over There,
            World War II.

Dear Fellow Americans,
I write this letter
Hoping times will be better
When this war
Is through.
I’m a Tan-skinned Yank
Driving a tank.
I ask, WILL V-DAY
BE ME-DAY, TOO?



I wear a U. S. uniform.
I’ve done the enemy much harm,
I’ve driven back
The Germans and the Japs,
From Burma to the Rhine.
On every battle line,
I’ve dropped defeat
Into the Fascists’ laps.
I am a Negro American
Out to defend my land
Army, Navy, Air Corps—
I am there.
I take munitions through,
I fight—or stevedore, too.
I face death the same as you do 
Everywhere.
I’ve seen my buddy lying
Where he fell.
I’ve watched him dying
I promised him that I would try
To make our land a land
Where his son could be a man—
And there’d be no Jim Crow birds
Left in our sky.

So this is what I want to know:
When we see Victory’s glow,
Will you still let old Jim Crow
Hold me back?
When all those foreign folks who’ve waited—
Italians, Chinese, Danes—are liberated.
Will I still be ill-fated
Because I’m black?

Here in my own, my native land,
Will the Jim Crow laws still stand?
Will Dixie lynch me still
When I return?
Or will you comrades in arms
From the factories and the farms,
Have learned what this war
Was fought for us to learn?

When I take off my uniform,
Will I be safe from harm—
Or will you do me
As the Germans did the Jews?
When I’ve helped this world to save,
Shall I still be color’s slave?
Or will Victory change
Your antiquated views?

You can’t say I didn’t fight
To smash the Fascists’ might.
You can’t say I wasn’t with you
in each battle.
As a soldier, and a friend.
When this war comes to an end,
Will you herd me in a Jim Crow car
Like cattle?

Or will you stand up like a man
At home and take your stand
For Democracy?
That’s all I ask of you.
When we lay the guns away
To celebrate
Our Victory Day
WILL V-DAY BE ME-DAY, TOO?
That’s what I want to know.

            Sincerely,
                GI Joe.
In the poem "Will V- Day Be Me-Day Too" Hughes is telling a story from the perspective of an African American soldier who is fighting in World War II. He talks about how in the war an African man is fighting for a county/ his county, which he does not even have a solid basis of rights in. After the war, will the African Americans get the same and equal treatment as everyone else? This was the real question that Hughes is trying to bring about in this piece.
Jim Crow Laws & Black Codes-
He states "Here in my own land, will Jim crow laws still stand". This refers to the Jim Crow laws of the time, these were a collection of state and local statues that legalized racial segregation. These laws existed for about 100 years, from post Civil War era till 1968. Black codes, the roots of Jim Crow laws, began as early as 1865 after the 13th Amendment (Abolished Slavery) was passed they were strict laws that detailed when, where and how freed slaves could work, and for how much compensation.This took many rights away from African Americans as well as their right to vote. So even though slavery was abolished they had minimal freedom.