The main challenge for an African American artist in general is “this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible.” You see, at this point in time African Americans either embraced their culture and color or were ashamed of it. The higher one is on the social pyramid the more likely one is to suppress their “blackness” due to an image they must portray in order to try and fit in amongst whites. This is what occurs after years, decades of racism and then segregation. One becomes detached of oneself, of their culture, tradition, language, beauty and freedom. Starts believing that they, whites, are right and that you deserve every beating or disrespect imaginable. However, this is all wrong, we have it all wrong and we allow this to happen again and again. Perhaps it is not as obvious as before but just think about what is now happening in the United States and immigration laws. People, Hispanics, are being beaten and deported for being “illegal.” But what makes a person illegal? If one were to put politics to the side, nothing would. And in Theme for English B by Langston Hughes as well he says, “Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you. But we are, that’s true! As I learn from you, I guess you learn from me--“ Many times we don’t comprehend why things are the way they are and certain things are beyond our grasp. We lose sense of what is real, true, but in essence we know many other things. We know we are human, we know we can rationalize and we can understand right from wrong so why not apply it? Why not be “American” and let this land be of the free?
