The Negro Artist And The Racial Mountain

Discrimination and gender inequality have been continuous problems throughout the history of the United States. Langston Hughes imbeds political statements throughout his short stories against racism, and in in his short story “Slave on the Block;” he utilizes irony to expose the Carraways. They think they are liberal, but they are actually racist. In fact, Hughes goes on to prove, specifically through the Carraways, that racism is actually embedded in white people.

This paper examines the perspective of Langston Hughes and how his style of writing is. It looks at how several interrelated themes run through the poetry of Langston Hughes, all of which have to do with being black in America and surviving in spite of immense difficulties. Langston Hughes is one of the most influential writers because his style of work not only captured the situation of African Americans; it also grabbed the attention of other races with the use of literary elements and other stylistic qualities. Langston Hughes became well known for his way of interpreting music into his work of writing, which readers love and enjoy today.

Through his poem “Theme for English B”, Langston Hughes expresses his will to exterminate discrimination by proving that despite different skin colors, Americans all share similarities and learn from each other. Langston wrote the poem in 1900, when black Americans were not considered Americans. He talks about a black student being assigned to write a paper about himself. The audience is thus the student’s professor – the representation of the white Americans. Since the professor said: “let that page come out of you---Then, it will be true.”, the student began wondering “if it’s that simple”. He then describes himself to explain why it isn’t simple: he is “twenty-two”, “the only colored in class”, and lives in the poor community Harlem.

In the essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” by Langston Hughes, Hughes discussed how African Americans felt belittled about their culture and of themselves because they were not white. The African Americans sensed that white people were better than them, so they embraced the white peoples ‘art, music, and literature instead of their own. Hughes then go on to talk about one of the main problems in the African American families, by conversing that the African American parents try to conform to the ways of white families- comparing high class, middle class, and the low class.

Langston Hughes was the leading voice of African American people in his time, speaking through his poetry to represent blacks. His Influence through his poems are seen widely not just by blacks but by those who enjoy poetry in other races and social classes. Hughes poems, Harlem, The Negro speaks of rivers, Theme for English B, and Negro are great examples of his output for the racial inequality between the blacks and whites. The relationship between whites and blacks are rooted in America's history for the good and the bad. Hughes poems bring the history at large and present them in a proud manner. The injustice that blacks face because of their history of once being in bondage is something they are constantly reminded and ridiculed for but must overcome and bring to light that the thoughts of slavery and inequality will be a lesson and something to remember for a different future where that kind of prejudice is not found so widely.

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

Langston Hughes was known for his poems of black activity in America since the 1920’s to the 1960’s, which was the time of the Harlem Renaissance. “My writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America.” Throughout Langston’s life he has seen and experienced racism. He used these experiences to give him ideas of things he could write about. Back then white people were the majority in Harlem, but then once the blacks started to come they dispersed. “We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.” Langston knew that blacks should express themselves no matter what color they are and not be ashamed of it. Some white people may like that they are expressing themselves, on the other hand, some white people may not accept that the

Writing during the emergence of the “New Negro” movement, Claude McKay and Langston Hughes work to reconcile black life in white America. The trope used by the two poets within “The Harlem Dancer” and “The Weary Blues” is that of a performance and a single speaker’s recollection of it. While both depict an African-American performer presumably consumed by the isolation and oppression of their condition, the intensity of the performances prove to be vastly disparate. Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” features a much more transcendent performance than that of McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer” not only because of the relationship between the audience and the performer, but the degree of ubiquity in descriptions of the performer and the poetic form through

Even after the Harlem Renaissance was off the forefront of the nation’s mind, Langston Hughes continued to comment on the demoralization that white people have historically done unto the African-American community. In his 1940 poem, “Note on Commercial Theater”, Hughes looked to the writers for Broadway and the presentations of commercial theater and saw the appropriation of black culture and perversion of music introduced by the Harlemites. These writers made the music whiter while stripping the credit from those who established it. Despite not having the recognition of white people at that time, Hughes still knew that “someday somebody’ll / Stand up and talk about me, / And write about me—” even if it would only be himself (Note on Commercial Theatre 12-14). Somehow, somewhere, someone would always be able to identify the wrongs white people inflict on others and be able to pay homage to the struggle while still celebrating their culture. His awareness of the ability of the black community to join together and acknowledge progression demonstrates his confidence in that community as a whole. It does not matter whether or not his own words are heard in his time, but instead that someone else will take them to heart and further the progression towards a better situation. The promise of a future ties the entire black community together towards more opportunities for growth.

Prejudice is a cancer that spreads hate among its perpetrators and victims alike. In 1930 Langston Hughes penned the novel, Not Without Laughter. This powerful story, written from the perspective of an African-American boy named James “Sandy” Rodgers, begins in the early 1900’s in the small town of Stanton, Kansas. Through the eyes of young Sandy, we see the devastating impact of racism on his family and those they are close to. We also see how the generations of abuse by whites caused a divide within the black community. Among, and even within, black families there were several social classes that seemed to hinge on seeking equality through gaining the approval of whites. The class someone belonged to was determined by the color

During the 1920s, black literature and culture exploded in a movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, which at its forefront directly challenged white stereotypes that ‘defined’ black perception in society. Thus, one major focus during this movement was to recreate and define a new identity for black Americans through the lens of art. Two poets attempted such a feat and, in their works, argued for an identity centered on the authentic roots and customs of African-American culture. As evidenced by “I, too,” “Theme for English B,” and “The Melting Pot,” Hughes and Randall assert that black racial identity should not be sequestered, but instead should be embraced in society.

Hughes story, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”, veers away from the conventions of Du Bois’s essay as rather than focusing on the value of black art as a key in social movements, it involves black artists who would rather neglect their blackness and rather took on the culture of whites. The speaker claims he enjoys being white more than being an African American, and Hughes describes this as “the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America-this urge within the race towards whiteness…”. Much like Du Bois, Hughes writes about the “beauty” of Negro art, and aims to uplift the appeal of negro language and culture as he examines African American artists who stayed true to their roots and culture whose works are amongst those that are still heavily praised even decades later.

In the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountains explained about the middle class and how the blacks didn’t feel accepted. In the communities the middle class were classifies as not rich or poor, but had a pretty good lifestyle. During this time, a modern family would have a father that goes to work in the morning until evening, the mother would do household chores and raise children and the children would go to the mixed-school for an education. Despite the interracial in the communities, the people had the tendency to want to be part of the white group within the communities. Even though blacks didn’t have the best opportunities, they tried to work hard and make a working progress to benefit them in the future.

The role of African American literature in recent years has been to illuminate for the modern world the sophistication and beauty inherent in their culture as well as the constant struggle they experience in the oppressive American system. When writers such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois and Alice Walker present their material, they manage to convey to a future world the great depth of feeling and meaning their particular culture retained as compared with the culture of their white counterparts. Without this attempt at preservation, much of the richness of this community might have been lost or forgotten. At the same time, they illuminated some of the problems inherent within their society, including lack of education, lack of