Langston Hughes The Negro Artist And The Racial Mountain

African American literature is the genre of literature that is produced by African Americans. Before African Americans works of art were showcased, it was against the law for blacks to read or write. Many whites and oppressors forbid blacks from reading and writing to keep them uneducated. When one is uneducated they are unable to advance in life. Black people have proved their strength from the test of times. African Americans always kept their hope on God and freedom. White individuals always portrayed slaves as content individuals and that slavery did not have detrimental effects. Once blacks began writing and reading, they opened the eyes to those in the North. African American writers began to tell their truth. These stories had messages …show more content…
Many artists arose from this movement. One of the most influential poets is Langston Hughes. The point to ponder in this unit is “What role does Race play in black creative expression.” Hughes sheds light on the mentality of some African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. In his work, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” he begins talking about an encounter he had with a young writer. This young man told Hughes that he wanted to be a poet but not a Negro poet. The young boy wants to write like a white poet and thus meaning that he wants to be white. Langston Hughes frowns upon this and is disappointed by this young man’s mindset. He shows that as times goes on, many Africans Americans of higher classes try to get away from their culture more and more. He describes what a middle class black family is typically like. In this poem, middle class individuals living comfortably and never go hungry. They tend to read white newspapers and magazines. When the kids are bad, the mother tells the children to not act like ‘Negros. It is said that the term ‘white’ is considered to be a virtue to this family. Wanting to be white runs through their minds. Hughes moves on to describe the life of high class African American families. The …show more content…
The selection I am examining is Long Black Song. This story in Richard Wright is about a black family who experiences injustice and racism. When the story begins it shows a wife, Sarah, is waiting for her husband, Silas, to return from a trip. While at home she is taking care of her baby when a white man comes to her house. The white man is trying to sell her a clock and while he is there he assaults her. Some may feel as if she cheated on her husband and that she agreed to sex but this is untrue. In the story, she tells the man no and he proceeds. When Silas returns back home, he notices the white man’s belongings in his room. Silas immediately becomes mad and feels disrespected. Silas does not like that a white man has been in his house let alone his room. He feels so hurt by the fact that a white man has assaulted his wife. The white man later returns and the men begin fighting. Knowing what her husband is capable of, Sarah tried to warn the white men. The point to ponder is “What does it mean to be black in America?” the life of Silas and Sarah is a great example because it shows that no matter how hard you work, a white man can destroy it all. Silas is a victim and a victor in this story. He is a victim because he was a man trying to defend and protect his family but in the end he takes the life of a white man and dies inside his burning