Langston Hughes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Langston Hughes - Essay Example Langston's sensitive nature was also responsible paradoxically in reinforcing his sense of separateness as a Negro. He acknowledged his race to be clearly an advantage, which gained him fame and recognition not only among his peers but also among those towards whom he was subjected towards color sensitivity, as it was his color that acknowledged and helped him in seeking his own identity in revealing the black experience. Langston Hughes was aware of the fact that being a black, his race would never be granted permission to gain access in participating in any effort towards America. He wanted the blacks to awake from the long sleep and start making the dream of their homeland a reality, although it was the dream which according to Langston was converted into a nightmare for Southern blacks, he aimed at rehabilitating that nightmare again into an American dream. No doubt Langston Hughes was among one of those renaissance writers who produced little work on Harlem, but whatever they produced, the work emerged as a magnum opus in the Harlem Renaissance history and produced a true Harlem color. Langston Hughes, the Harlem writer was especially adept at portraying New York's ghetto life concerning about people, culture and religion. What he experienced during the renaissance enabled him to portray the true face of white Americans and in the form of words he described it. Langston's work about Harlem reveal his versatility as wh... ons African Americans had to face regarding social and economic factors of Harlem, he found a ready market among some blacks who wanted to read about life in the black metropolis on one hand, while on the other he was aware of those whites who were attracted to the exotic, strange, and colorful rhythms of 'nigger heaven'". (Wintz, 1988, p. 45) Harlem, though, was more than a playground for white Manhattan, for Africans it was more than a battle. A battle conducted not to loose, but to win and make whites acknowledge their identities as African Americans. "It was a teeming, overcrowded ghetto, and much of its laughter and gaiety only thinly veiled the misery and poverty that was becoming the standard of life for the new black urban masses. This, too, was reflected by the Harlem Renaissance, viewed from the perspective of Langston". (Wintz, 1988, p. 46) "Langston portrayed the outbreak of World War I as the only means, which intensified racial conflicts in America. He was aware of the sacrifices given by every single African of America and realized the importance of African traditional people in supporting America's war, with a hope that their efforts would display one day a result of loyalty and battlefield gallantry to win them popular support in their quest for equality". (Rampersad, 2002, p. 54) Langston encouraged their efforts to participate fully in their country's battles; blacks have traditionally confronted a government reluctant to accept their services. During World War I the already existing racial strife intensified these problems. Some poets saw Harlem slightly different as compared to other poets of Renaissance in a sense that unlike many would be black writers; Langston Hughes was strongly drawn to the black people of Harlem, which won the hearts of