the herlem Renaissance and representation
What is the artist’s responsibility to his race? This is a question that many writers and artists had to deal with on some level. Prominent thinker such as DuBois and Locke would assert that the artist is absolutely responsible for presenting his race in a positive light especially given the struggles that African Americans are having with race prejudice at the time. However, there are artists who disagree and believe that they should be able to depict anything they want even if it frames black people in a negative light.
My question to you is, what do you think? Should these artists bear this responsibility? Given the time period should all representations work to fight against the oppression of black people or at the very least, not promote it?
Consider this quote from Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” in your response:
The Negro artist works against an undertow of sharp criticism and misunderstanding form his own group and unintentional bribes from the whites. “Oh, be respectable, write about nice people, show how good we are,” say the Negroes. “Be stereotyped, don’t go too far, don’t shatter our illusions about you, don’t amuse us too seriously. We pay you,” say the whites.
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