Question

What does Langston Hughes believe about the Black community in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”?

A. It will not produce a true Black artist until it becomes comfortable with its culture.
B. It has not shown an interest in exploring art that interests both White and Black people.
C. It projects too many barriers for its artists to thrive.
D. It relies too heavily on the dominant White community for artistic ideas.

Answer 1

Langston Hughes believed that the Black community should confidently express and celebrate its unique culture and identity through art, without seeking approval from the dominant White community.

Step-by-step explanation:

Langston Hughes, in his essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”, fervently believes that the Black community should embrace and celebrate its culture and heritage through art. Hughes declares that the younger generation of Negro artists of the Harlem Renaissance aim to express their individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame, irrespective of whether their art pleases white people or not, asserting their beauty and worth. He criticized both the external pressures of racism, which weighed heavily on Black artists, and the internal challenges where the Black middle class often aspired to white cultural standards, potentially sacrificing their unique cultural identity. Hughes's vision was for a Black artist who could integrate their heritage into their American experience without compromising either, thereby contributing to a richer, more diverse American culture.