American Literature

Racism has always remained a critical issue in America and the blacks were the ones who are facing it from centuries. The century long division of blacks and whites had created a wall, which the writers and poets are trying to break from past times. This paper describes the literary works of two such writers named Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, who have reflected the darkness of black emotions in their writings.
The Artworks Shadows of Racism

Langston Hughes was the poet who showed a feeling of depression in most of his poems due to racism in America. One of is poem Let America be America Again, is a poem, which reflects the racial division of America in which whites have got separated from the blacks. The blacks gained nothing but slavery on this land.

The powerful people have always dominated the poor and they have led the black community to a never-ending slavery. Langstons poem describes the pathetic state of the black slaves who are growing crops, working on machines and serving the whites, still they themselves are hungry and what they all get is beating and insult for their whole community.

But in the last stanzas of his poem, Hughes reminds the mighty people who call themselves upper classed, that the Blacks came to this land and worked hard for this land but today they have no rights and only humiliation. Then Hughes asserts to take the land back from the whites and says that it is a land for everyone, be it Indians or Blacks or any poor man. The racism has divided the human beings between whites and blacks, and this war seems, as if never ending.  Racism has always been a part of American culture and it still exists. The American literature is the witness of the brutality of racism and many writers and poets have reflected it in their works and have portrayed characters, which speak the story of slavery faced by blacks.

The American writer James Baldwins story Sonnys Blues describes such a character of a musician, Sonny, who faces oppression due to racism and that oppression becomes the dark side of his character.
Sonnys Blues shows the societal cause (oppression of blacks), as the reason for the engagement of blacks in mal practices like drug dealing. Baldwin has portrayed Sonny as a youth who is troubled by the racism, which he has faced throughout his childhood and teenage in Harlem.

The family history of Sonny also had an incident related to it, in which some white men killed Sonnys uncle by crushing him with their car. This incident deeply affected Sonnys father and Sonnys whole family perceived all whites as killers. The blacks have been treated very badly from the past times in America and they have faced brutal blows of racism and slavery, and this thing is clear from the American literature. The blacks faced so much humility that they got frustrated and that locked suppression made them criminals. The story depicts the white and black community relations. Such literary works describe the role of whites in devaluing the black community.

Conclusion
Racism has remained in the American nerves and literary works of writers like Hughes and Baldwin are a proof of such racism and black and white division. The poor blacks have always remained as a source of exploitation and the blacks are doing this from ages. The poets and writers have remained a support for the black community for raising their voices against slavery and domination.

2. Is there an authentic black voice in any of the literature you have read so far Does an authentic black voice exist or not

2. The American literature has many such voices, which shaped the America. Many writers like John Callahan have given stress on the fact that black fiction in writings of the black writers is based on the pains of the blacks in a fight for freedom and it includes the bitter taste of slavery and a desire for American citizenship. In my views such voices have helped the blacks to rise above the slavery and feel the power to get liberty. Some of the writers like Fredrick Douglass have mentioned slavery in their works. All the voices of these literary writers have cast their impressions on the minds of the readers and the people have heard them so this makes their voices authentic.