As Stott explains in Documentary Expression and Thirties America: "a human document may be read as a historical document is - for the facts it gives about public events and social customs." Whilst the poetry of Hughes can be classed as "a human document", These speeches too qualify under this qualification, demonstrating that not only are they providing a documentary representation of the political climate, but they offer a historical accuracy and perception of these particular events, whilst providing the emotional response, This once again demonstrates the similarities in poetry and documentary and reportage, and emphasises that we cannot class one as superior to the other; both have individual merits yet offer the audience the same ability to politically critique the society of which they are writing.
A significant difference however, between Hughes" poetry, and the speeches made by both King and X is that one sees far more detail of the actual political situation in America at this time. One is provided with names of government officials and their role in the civil rights movement, as well as details of the government breakdown:.
"In this present administration they have in the House of Representatives 257 Democrats to only 177 Republicans. They control two-thirds of the House vote. Why can't they pass something that will help you and me?" .
This form of technical political detail is not a feature in the poetry of Langston Hughes, as it is not consistent with his idiom of writing, however, is prevalent in these speeches as it is this that they were made for, for political rallies, and by providing specific examples of the downfalls in the political system more people were likely to be influenced to join the civil rights movement. More examples can be found in Martin Luther King Junior's famous speech I Have a Dream, and whilst they do not quote facts and figure provide examples that the audience would have been able to relate to:.
