How Racism Affects Negro Artists
There are various potentials that can be explored within the Negro community. The efforts of the Negro artists to show their work to the rest of the world barely successful because they are perceived to be incapable of creating something useful to the audience. According to Langston Hughes, Negro artist lack support not just from the outside world, but also from people within their group. Most of these people have been raised to see the negative sides of African Americans, and they will never be in a position to recognize the beautiful things that surround them. The poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay exhibits Hughes’s thinking about a “Negro artist.” This essay will help in identifying the challenges that Negro artists go through as they try to reach the audience through their pieces of work. The essay will analyze how the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay supports the claims made by Hughes on how the Negro community fails to appreciate the beautiful works from their artists.
Claude McKay is complaining about how the Negroes are treated poorly in the presence of the whites.” If we must die, let it not be like hogs.” They are considered to be inferiors, and no one will be ready to support them. Most people will even fail to notice if the artist exists. The people surrounding the artist are unaware of his or her potential and are not willing to show any support. By rallying his fellow Negroes, Mackay is trying to express his anger about how other people fail to see the beauty in them (McKay 1). It is clear that the Negroes are not united and only focus on the negative side of their community. This makes it difficult for an American Negro artist to escape the restrictions put in place by his people.
The “If We Must Die” poem is trying to explain how the outnumbered black artists have a long way to go before making it. Just as Hughes argues that most fans, both African Americans and whites, are not willing to watch Negro artists perform. They believe that it is just a waste of time and money since they are never creative. This is just a stereotype that is far away from the truth because there are Negro artists who can offer great poems that can appeal to the audience from all over the world.
Equality does not reign in the Negro community. This is a situation that is perpetuated by the locals and the whites (Hughes 1). Mckay is helpless about what should be done to ensure that the Negro people are treated like humans. By showing determinations to change the current situation, Mckay finds himself exposing the poor life that people from the black community have to live. “While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursèd lot.” (McKay 1). This supports Hughes’s thinking on how the success journey of any person coming from the Negro community can be difficult. Although some of the artists attempt to overcome the challenges, it is never easy. This is evident when McKay says, “Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!” (McKay 1). McKay is showing the audience how difficult it is to change the current situation. Although some people are trying to bring change in the Negro community, they are facing rejection from the locals, who should be in the frontline supporting them.
No matter how good Negro artist works might be, they always face sharp criticism and misunderstanding from the whites and people from his group. The local people usually feel that the Negro artists are not capable of coming up with works with a message worth sharing (Hughes 3). Once a piece of work is not praised by the local people, it is difficult to gain acceptance in the outside world. Mackay is rallying the audience to join him in fighting for equality and freedom for all. He is fighting for a world that every person is respected, and other people can appreciate their work. When MacKay compares the African Americans to hogs who are being hunted and penned mercilessly, this shows how society views the Negro community and treats them in a brutal way that is full of disrespect (McKay 1). The inequality affects the local’s confidence in their artists, and they are likely to ignore their work just as the whites will do.
Negro artists find it difficult to get approval from their communities regarding their work. Just as Mckay is calling for respect and equality for African Americans, it is important for all people around the world to support artists who produce a great piece of work regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. This is an important argument in encouraging people from the Negro community to start appreciating the beauty in the works created by their artists. This is also a relevant message to all people who focus on who has produced a particular piece of work rather than concentrating on the good message that the artist was trying to put across.
Works Cited
Hughes, Langston. “The Negro artist and the racial mountain.” The Langston Hughes Review 4.1 (1985): 1-4.
McKay, Claude. “If we must die.” The Liberator 2.6 (1919): 1.