I, Too, Sing America

In the poem "I, Too, Sing America",by Langston Hughes, the tones of rejection and hope are clearly expressed by how the man is sent to the kitchen to eat when there is company and by how he grows strong and looks toward the future with hope that he will one day eat at the table among the other men, as an equal.  Even though the man is told time and time again that he isn't good enough, that he is inferior, he refuses to give up.  He eats the food given to him and builds up his strength, waiting for his time of equality and his place at the table.