The Poetry Of Claude Mckay's 'America'

Among the critical responses to Home to Harlem, W.E.B. Du Bois’s criticism of Claude McKay’s text seemingly speaks from an essentialist perspective. Du Bois simply found that McKay’s representation of black culture within his novel reproduced stereotypical and crude images which white audiences desired in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. In response to Du Bois, McKay argued that the novel was created for a black audience, but, to delve even deeper outside of Claude McKay’s views, it could be argued that Home to Harlem does not produce a single identity at all. Rather, Home to Harlem’s perpetual mobility and movement invests in the idea of black “identity as ‘production’” rather than as the exhibition of a “collective ‘one true self’”

Claude McKay was a black man born in Jamaica, he choose literature very on in life and kept with it. He moved to the United States at age twenty three to study at Tuskegee Institute and was immediately shocked by the blatant racism prevalent in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved to New York and shortly after became co-editor of The Liberator, a famous abolitionist newspaper, he wrote some of his most revered poems while working there. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance a movement that was a reawakening of artistic and cultural talents of African American people in the United States and helped to reinvigorate their pride in being black.

The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.

Claude McKay’s poems reflect on American culture during a specific time in history, known as Harlem Renaissance. A time where racism was predominately a way of living for many, this was a beneficial time in history for African Americans. Bringing blacks together in a new movement that had not been present in America. Development in which blacks emphasized themselves by taking on their racial identity. It was a time period in which the black community helped each other to be able to express themselves as who they truly are, creating a true African American visual doing so

Racial prejudice often creates a division between the racists and their victims, and thus results in isolation and alienation of the victimized racial group. During the Harlem Renaissance, discrimination and oppression against African Americans was still prevalent, despite the 1920s being a time of expression of African culture. This juxtaposing concept is analyzed through Claude McKay’s poem “The White City”, which explores the perception of an African American speaker, presumably McKay himself, who longs to be a part of the White City, while retaining a deep, inner hatred of the city. Although McKay initially demonstrates his endearment and attachment toward the city through visual imagery, he directly juxtaposes it by expressing his hatred with tenacious, despicable diction. This juxtaposition not only serves to represent the struggle of being an African American in a white supremacist city but also displays McKay’s paradox of appreciating the “White City” while feeling detached from it.

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay share similar qualities in their respective poems “I, Too, Sing America” written by Hughes and “America” written by McKay. These poems, though different and unique in style, share common characteristics that make each poem a classic piece of American literature. Hughes and McKay, both African American males, were very notable during the Harlem Renaissance period. Both writers express their views on their individual African Americans perceptions in America in these poems, through their use of diction, tone, theme.

Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan –Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.

The Kansas City Call summed up the general mentality of African Americans during the 1920s with the statement “The New Negro does not fear the face of day.” (pg 118) Unlike the old days of slavery, African Americans had become more radical towards their oppressor and were beginning to organize as a people. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude Mckay embraced the “New Negro” archetype in his work by stating “If we must die, let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot….. Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

One misconception of McKay, has been that he was overly zealous in facing the controversy that blacks faced. Although, he admitted that he actually was never fully comfortable with identifying with the masses of his race. Claude McKay’s identification as “the angry poet who calls for revolutionary action” (Gayle 39). McKay battled with understanding how black people lacked confidence and pride in being human beings who were deservant of everyday human rights that everyone else has been

Racism is something rather common in today’s society but not too long ago, it was a very public thing throughout the United States. It is a piece of history that has lasted through generations and is still very present today, but it is not quite as prominent as it used to be during the nineteen hundreds and before. In the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay, the universal themes of alienation towards African Americans and honorable fighting for their rights of freedom appear through the use of background, figurative language, and vivid imagery. Claude McKay was an immigrant from Jamaica to the United States during the Harlem Renaissance. Coming into the United States at this time involved him in the persecution and oppression African Americans

McKay inserts himself into the canonical literary history of the sonnet, exploiting this mainstream, traditional form to discuss the issue of unstable identities experienced by marginalised groups in America.

He goes on talking about being confined and being degraded which builds contrast to the identity as an African American writer in the midst of racism. Claude McKay and Langston Hughes both in the Harlem Renaissance movement; Hughes didn’t believe he should give up his identity as a African American poet, while McKay represents in his poem more of a stand your ground and fight back. Claude wanted people not to be afraid of standing up for themselves. With “our precious blood” McKay discusses dying and a right to choose to fight to stay alive, and if they were to die, they

Claude McKay (1889-1948) moved to America from Jamaica in the early 1900’s. He moved several times before settling in Harlem, New York where he became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. During his life in America, he wrote numerous pieces of literature from essays, short stories, poems, and more. In the early 1900’s, life in the South was difficult for colored people because of segregation. Thus, the experience of racism motivated him to write poetry. He wrote about peasant life in Jamaica to poems that challenge white authority, and tales of black life in America and Jamaica to a more philosophical fiction that was vital to black individual 's efforts of coping in a racial environment (Claude). McKay wrote many poems about racism towards colored people in many American cities.