Double Consciousness in Langston Hughes Cross

One of the consequences of colonialism is the issue of miscegenation that has led to W. E. B. Du Bois Double Consciousness of many intellectuals including the speaker of Cross . Double consciousness makes for a condition in which the intellectual stands at the border of two cultures. This condition is very apparent in the lines and the tone of the speaker of Cross . Langston Hughes illustrates this duality of being neither white nor black as a result of miscegenation very artistically in this poem. This paper aims to study the intellectual Double Consciousness of the speaker in the final couplet I wonder where I m gonna die, / Being neither white nor black? of the poem Cross by Langston Hughes. Due to the miscegenation and the resulting Double Consciousness, the speaker cannot determine which culture to adapt. Therefore, he cannot obtain a consistent individuality.