Seeking roots of discrimination

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Intermediate Examination Paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Department of English and American Studies), course: Introduction to US Cultural Science II: "The Thirties", language: English, abstract: Although much of Langston Hughes's and Richard Wright's writing expressed social protest, there is one genre the essay that has gone largely unnoticed.
In the eyes of Hughes and Wright, custom, tradition and religion may be seen as some of the root causes of racism because they are largely interiorized, but they by far cannot serve alone as satisfying explanations for it. Important in the creation of racism is e.g. the negative projection of colored people in the media. Consequently, this forms a fatal preconception of blacks that is constantly being reproduced. Langston Hughes and Richard Wright, among the most prolific of American writers,
gained international attention and acclaim in nearly every genre of writing, including
poetry, the short story, the novel, drama, the libretto, the autobiography, journalistic
prose, children's and adolescent literature and song lyrics. Although much of their
writing, often expressing social protest, was easily accessible to scholars and general
readers, there is one genre the essay that has gone largely unnoticed. Yet such
essays and short, non-fiction passages contribute significantly to Hughess and
Wrights work, striving for racial equality on a local level, a national, as well as global
levels.
At first glance, it may appear fruitless to compare the non-fiction works of
Hughes and Wright, since the writers became famous for their poetry and fictional
masterpieces. Also, a comparison between Wrights rather epic artistic style and
Hughess dense, often ironic prose may seem unlikely and difficult. Yet, on closer
inspection, you will find that both writers are surprisingly close to one another in their
way of thinking, and their conclusions often overlap.
Hughes was a columnist for the famous African-American newspaper, the
Chicago Defender, where he commented on contemporary issues and chronicled
the hopes and despairs of his people. In spite of the different origins of the writers,
Hughes and Wright were confronted early on with race discrimination and
segregation, publicly know as Jim Crow-ism1, which was identified and condemned
in their essays.

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