Critique Langston Hughes, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

In this work, Langston Hughes expresses the way he perceives the connection between white men, upper class blacks, black artists, and traditional blacks. He claims that Black artists shouldn’t have any desire to live a white lifestyle or have any white influence at all. Blacks who live a more reserved life and choose white influenced entertainment and religion are losing their roots, and therefore cannot articulate a true African American background through art expression. Hughes believes that all upper or middle class Blacks lose the ability to be a true artist and isn’t proud of their ethnicity. He also believes that those who do stay true to their roots are the only ones that can be true black artists, but other Negros and Whites will not appreciate their works. Langston expresses this idea by using a high mountain as a metaphor. He compares the mountain to the life of Negro who chooses to have a White American lifestyle, which poses an obstacle for Black artists.Before the Harlem Renaissance, social status was still based on ethnicity and Blacks weren’t looked up to. Hughes speaks as if Blacks should remain poor and not change their character whatsoever. In modern day, no matter what ethnicity a person is, they can worship in different ways, express art in different ways, and live in different conditions. If a person is living the way they want to and isn’t influenced by fear, he is being true to himself. During Langston Hughes time, a Black person acting out of the ordinary and more in a “White man’s way”was being untrue to himself and afraid to be honest. It didn’t make sense to choose a white way of living when either way, the Black man would not be appreciated.