I was kind of confused about "The Nergo Artist and the Racial Moutain". I thought it was hard to figure out what kind of messege Hughes was trying to send us. The Harlem Rennisance was about racial uplift but in this short piece I do not feel like he speaks of his race in a very positive or uplifting manner.
I can understand his point of view when he is talking about upper class blacks trying to assimilate to the white population. In his opinion they do not take enough pride in black culture and he thinks it is problematic that they tell their children to not "act like little niggers". It makes sense that this bothers him because they are prolonging the use of a derogatory term or concept. I do think he is extremely critical I think he may overexaggerate the ills of the upper classes.
What I found so problematic was his description of the "more desirable" in his opinion black people. I thought that he himself was exaggerating stereotypes that the Rennisance was working to get rid of. I do not think it's a good thing to believe that the more desirable black people were those that were "lazy" or "not important to community". It negates what others in his time were working for.
5 comments:
I was a little confused at first too about "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain". It's a lot different then Hughes poems, which are so straight forward and easy to read. I really think the class discussion about this piece helped me to understand it a lot. I too can understand the point of view he has about the upper class blacks, but at the same time I think he blows this a little out of proportion. I don't think it was really that way. I didn't live during this time, so it very well may have been, but I find that hard to believe. I see how Hughes is writing for his racial group, but I thought it was wrong of him to say that all black writers should be writing about their race, for racial uplift. I feel they should have been writing about anything they wanted.
I also found The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain bizarre. I thought it was very stereo typical in many ways, which I think is ironic because African Americans are being oppressed due to stereo typical views and actions and now they are in turn doing the same thing to their very own race. When Hughes says, “this is the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art…” I take it to mean that society is the mountain. Society consisting of both African American’s as well as whites. Hughes also states, “and perhaps these common people will give to the world its truly great Negro artist, the one who is not afraid to be he”, but Hughes is criticizing Cullen, with a sharp tongue, for being him. It seems to me that Hughes is saying a true Negro artist that is not afraid to be himself is only a African American artist who writes to uplift the black race, other than that you are not worthy and only being white, which he states is “an unconscious symbol of virtues”.
Hughes also states, “The Negro artist works against an undertow of sharp criticism and misunderstand from his own group and unintentional bribes fro the whites.” I found this a little shocking. I have come to think that the Harlem Renaissance was a time for African American’s to progress as a race and to become a more accepted part of society, however if Hughes is saying to be a true “Negro” artist you can only write about your race and nothing “white” then how is an entire race supposed to progress and become more accepted in society.
This essay left me with a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth, as well. It was hard to tell whether Hughes supported or strongly opposed the actions of the upperclass because the essay was a little bit hypocritical.
I think that I agree with the comment Angie left for this post, and that I'm just going to take Hughes' writing as his expression that the Harlem Renaissance was a time for blacks to explore themselves as writers, poets, musicians and artists -- something that Hughes himself was unsure of.
I was confused at times reading "The negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." I agree that hughes was addressing the fact that African Americans. I think this could because African American have been through so many hard times living a life that no one accepts. African Americans were not accepted in society and I think this could have taken a toll on many lives. Therefore, many did abandon their culture to try and fit into society. I don't necessarily agree with this, but I think for many African Americans, it was their last hope.
I agree. His view did seem to undermine that whole concept of what many people of his race were trying to do. You have to think though, if you were a wealthy black upperclass person, wouldnt you try to assimilate? Even if Hughes was critisizing them or not, it is what people had to do in order to secure a spot for the next generation.
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