to possess, while the acknowledgment that“they lynch [him] still in Mississippi” (16) speaks for the anti-Black resentment of thispower. In his journey toward higher art, Hughes even makes mention of the institution ofart as a facet of Negro identity: “I’ve been a singer: all the way from Africa to Georgia Icarried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime” (10 - 13). Hughes combines these diverseelements of African-American identity -- slavery, workmanship, artistry, victimization --to portray Blacks as many do not wish to see them: intelligent, hard-working, artistic, andunjustly oppressed. This poetic depiction both forces the African-American into amulti-dimensional state of being and exalts those qualities which have typically beenconsidered negative or inconsequential. Hughes accomplishes these objectives whileclaiming his identity with beauty and poise: “I am a Negro: black as the night is black,black like the depths of my Africa” (17 - 19). In a similar vein, Hughes demonstrates anastute, attentive, descriptive voice in his poem “The South,” which examines “the lazy,laughing South with blood on its mouth” (1 - 2). Hughes exhibits an extremely refinedsense of language in his descriptions: “beautiful, like a woman, seductive as a dark-eyedwhore, passionate, cruel, honey-lipped, syphilitic -- that is the South” (13 - 17). In hisaccurate attribution of these qualities to Southern society, Hughes creates an intenseawareness of both the seductive charisma and the severely problematic nature of theSouth; he thus calls the reader’s attention to the oppressive elements of Southern societyas well as elevating the African-American -- and simultaneously, his art -- by engaging inan intelligent, perceptive quest toward “the cold-faced North, for she, they say, is a kindermistress” (24 - 26). Hughes’ discussion of “the child-minded South scratch...
