Langston Hughes: Poems Lesson Plan

What is the irony the speaker describes in "This Puzzles Me"?

The speaker describes the way that white Americans view African Americans as childish, lazy, and simple. They think that African Americans sit around "Shooting dice and shouting, / Always having fun." The speaker then notes that, in fact, there are other "children" much more childlike than African Americans. Ironically these are the white people themselves. They treat the world like it's their toy—killing, maiming, harming, and thinking it's all fine. In the speaker's opinion, this is childish. The "dark-skinned children" are always trying to be good and noble, unlike their white counterparts. Put simply,...