Hughes wrote many poems, but one of his most famous ones is "A Dream Deferred." The poem, published in 1951, refers to the dream of racial equality, something that did not exist in the United States at the time. Segregation was considered legal according to the Supreme Court, and many African-Americans did not have access to the same government services that whites did. Many African Americans sought equality and access to the same good neighborhoods, schools, and jobs as white citizens. During the 1950s, this was not the case, especially in the South.

While segregation does not exist and is explicitly prohibited by law, in many ways African Americans continue to experience racism. African American men are incarcerated at higher rates than any other demographic in the United States. African Americans in many inner cities do not have the same access to prestigious secondary schools and thus have a harder time succeeding in college due to a lack of preparation.

African Americans also face racial bias, whether this be through implicit through social expectations or explicit in the form of hate speech and violence. Hughes's dream is closer to being realized, but many African Americans who aspire to join the middle and upper classes still face hurdles that the rest of the population of the United States does not.