African American writers have represented the different experiences of their community for ages. The survival in a racially oppressive environment still remains a major topic of discussion in Black literature. In the battle to affirm the basic human privileges for the subjugated, the authors have challenged the established notions on race, society, and culture through their works. How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Discovery of What it Means to be an American, and the poetry of Langston Hughes are few such compositions which undermine the conventional perceptions and propose alternative viewpoints.
Zora Neale Hurston presents differences and the depiction of the race (Johnson) in How It Feels to Be Colored Me. She begins the essay with her childhood days in Eatonville where she was alien to the concept of discrimination. After being sent to Jacksonville at the age of thirteen, Hurston becomes “a little colored girl” (Hurston). The novel racial consciousness alters her social interaction (Hardison) with the non-Blacks even though she does not project any shame in being colored, “I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored” (Hurston). She feels that ethnic differences must be valued for the aesthetics of their cultural ancestry.
Hurston’s literary pieces sharply deviate from that of her contemporaries as she does not provide much emphasis on racial divisions and inequalities. She creates a perspective that enables one to take pride in one’s self rather than in one’s race (Ghani and Joody). She states that ‘At certain time I have no race, I am me … I belong to no race nor time” (Hurston). The statement, “…I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief” explicitly points to the irrationality of “seeking extenuating circumstances for something over which one has no control” (Johnson). The racial identity is not fostered by her mind, “There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all”(Hurston). It is a consequence of the social exchanges and conventions, “Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves” (Hurston).
127 our experts are availableright now
Hurston challenges the institution of disparity which threatens the upliftment of Blacks. The writing displays the implications and outcomes of segregation that are apparent in the cultural and societal interactions. The stance that the men of color are born inferior is destroyed through her experiences in Eatonville. She stresses the potential of an individual which goes beyond ethnicity and orthodox beliefs, “I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less” (Hurston). She considers the limitations of Afro-Americans as opportunities since “No one on earth ever had a greater chance for glory. The world to be won and nothing to be lost” (Hurston).
The possibilities of a Black American is further explained in The Discovery of What it Means to be an American by James Baldwin. He lashes out at the prejudices that label him “merely a Negro” (Baldwin 11) and affirms his American identity as the travel to Europe has released him “from the illusion that” he “hated America” (Baldwin 12). He calls out the racial misconceptions which need to be crushed “to free ourselves of the myth of America” (Baldwin 15). The preoccupation with status and color barriers restrict the freedom of citizens, thereby inducing more difficulty in the bridging of “social and occupational lines” (Baldwin 13).
Simultaneously, Baldwin regards his racial identity as a “source of cultural strength and authority” (Miller). The time in Europe modifies his personal view of himself as a Black American since he realizes that the sense of isolation prevailed in the minds of every ex-pat Americans, “… I proved… to be as American as any Texas G.I… they were no more at home in Europe than I was” (Baldwin 11). The music of Bessie Smith, unlike his days in the US, prompts him “to dig back to the way I myself must have spoken when I was a pickaninny” (Baldwin 12). He no longer feels the “shame and bitterness” (Baldwin 11) of racial division, and the colored skin does not prevent him from exploring the divergent spheres of the foreign continent, “he can reach out to everyone, … he is accessible to everyone and open to everything” (Baldwin 13).
Baldwin reinstates that the worth of a person is totally dependent on himself. The position of the American society, where people ought to fight to create their identity, exposes the abundance of “unprecedented opportunities” (Baldwin 14). Though he denotes the freedom of the American writer in Europe, the remark that the responsibility for development is in one’s own hands (Baldwin 14) indicates the necessity to nurture individual talents and faculties to attain heights. Upon recognizing his weight and value, Baldwin (14) underlines the significance of one’s origin which is carried everywhere “as the strongest people do, regardless of their station”.
The subjugation of the African American community is explicitly presented in the poetry of Langston Hughes. His poems, in vernacular, narrate the ill-treated circumstances through intense observation and experiences. For instance, the poem The Weary Blues uses simple language, “In a deep voice with a melancholy tone / I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan / ‘Ain’t got nobody in all this world, / Ain’t got nobody but ma self.” (Duki). He is proud of his ancestry and does not shy away from embracing his historical roots as portrayed in Negro, “I am a Negro : / Black as the night is black , / Black like the depths of Africa.” (Mohammad).
Hughes unmasks the racial bigotry which attacks men for their origin and color. Through his unpublished poem The Bible, he condemns the supremacy of the whites who employ Christ and the Bible to differentiate the colored, “It is funny as you can read a book / And not to pay any attention / The Bible is in almost all the houses / And it seems that the people are blind, / In the way in which they read the Golden Rule / And they pay no attention to it” (Duki). Similar is the composition Goodbye Christ and A Christian Country where the poet exposes the intolerance meted against the minority group under the pretext of Christianity. His Who but the Lord? could be deemed as an outcry for the liberation and the helplessness of the downtrodden in the midst of cruelty, …”O, Lord, if you can, / Save me from that man! / Don’t let him make a pulp out of me!… Being poor and black, / I’ve no weapon to strike back” (Duki).
Let America be America Again signifies Hughes’alternate sentiment,“Let America be the dream the Dreamers dreamed / Let it be that great strong land of love / Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme / That any man be crushed by one above” (Duki). He hopes for the liberty of the enslaved, and the same message is conveyed in I Dream a World where every human, not concerning their race, lives in harmony and equality, “I dream a world where man / No other man will scorn, / Where love will bless the earth / And peace its paths adorn. / A world I dream where black or white / Whatever race you be / Will Share the bounties of the earth / And every man is free, / Where wretchedness will hang its head” (Duki). Hughes conceives freedom as a birthright and believes that no one could stop him from aspiring a better tomorrow.
The prominent theme in the writings of Hurston, Baldwin, and Hughes is the race-conscious surrounding in their homeland. Together with denouncing the degrading of the Black population, they provide varied viewpoints in tackling the condition. Hurston emanates a self-sufficient standpoint and shatters the feeling that race is of the utmost significance to a person. She defies discrimination by urging the African descendants to focus on themselves while embracing their heritage. Baldwin accentuates the prospects of each mortal, irrespective of their ethnic background, and encourages the focus on individuality to surpass the centuries-old stereotypes.
Hughes in his poems insists on the freedom of the marginalized. While taking pride in his ethnicity, he expects that the world, especially the non-blacks in his nation, would appreciate the heritage of his community and would treat them as equals. The contributions of these authors possess distinct features of Black aesthetics while discerning their cultural conceptions. They leave remarkable insight into the African American’s history and urge for the advancement of the over-victimized and dehumanized.
