50 pages 1 hour read

Langston Hughes

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1926

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“One of the most promising of the young Negro poets said to me once, ‘I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet,” meaning, I believe, ‘I want to write like a white poet’; meaning subconsciously, ‘I would like to be a white poet’; meaning behind that, ‘I would like to be white.’ And I was sorry the young man said that, for no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.” 


(Paragraph 1)

In this opening description of a young Black poet’s desires, Hughes interprets the underlying meaning of the poet’s initial statement, using it to introduce his ideas. Hughes explains to his reader his central argument: Black artists must be unafraid of being themselves. In addition, Hughes is more subtly laying the foundation of one of his other arguments, which is that a large portion of Black people in the US subconsciously “would like to be white,” which is an important tension around Black creativity.

Quotation Mark Icon

“But this is the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America—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.” 


(Paragraph 1)

This statement is the thesis of Hughes’s essay, and he argues that Black artists must reach the top of a racial mountain if they are to be authentically successful. One of the most important aspects of this central claim is Hughes’s connection of the “race toward whiteness” with being “as much American as possible.” By explicitly linking being White with being American, Hughes provides context for many of his later points regarding the difficulty of finding “racial individuality.”

Quotation Mark Icon

“And so the word white comes to be unconsciously a symbol of all virtues. It holds for the children beauty, morality, and money.” 


(Paragraph 2)

Hughes aims for his reader to understand the intimate connections between Whiteness and other standards of success in US society. He makes this point explicit in order to support his claims about Black creativity.

Related Titles

By Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Children’s Rhymes

Langston Hughes

Children’s Rhymes

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Cora Unashamed

Langston Hughes

Cora Unashamed

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Dreams

Langston Hughes

Dreams

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Harlem

Langston Hughes

Harlem

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

I look at the world

Langston Hughes

I look at the world

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

I, Too

Langston Hughes

I, Too

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Me and the Mule

Langston Hughes

Me and the Mule

Langston Hughes

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Mother to Son

Langston Hughes

Mother to Son

Langston Hughes

Plot Summary
logo

Mulatto

Langston Hughes

Mulatto

Langston Hughes

Plot Summary
logo

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide
logo

Not Without Laughter

Langston Hughes

Not Without Laughter

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Slave on the Block

Langston Hughes

Slave on the Block

Langston Hughes

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
logo

Thank You, M'am

Langston Hughes

Thank You, M'am

Langston Hughes

Plot Summary
logo

The Big Sea

Langston Hughes

The Big Sea

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Theme for English B

Langston Hughes

Theme for English B

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Langston Hughes

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

The Ways of White Folks

Langston Hughes

The Ways of White Folks

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes

Study Guide
logo

Tired

Langston Hughes

Tired

Langston Hughes