Loung Ung, Cathy Park Hong, and Langston Hughes each responded to racial hate and adversity in different ways, primarily through literature. Hong used personal essays to express and process racial trauma, Hughes defended his poetic reflections on racial injustice in front of a political committee, and public figures like Martin Luther King Jr. wrote urgently about the need for racial equality. These individuals utilized writing as a means to confront and highlight their personal and collective experiences with racism.
Comparing Loung Ung's responses to hate in her memoir with that of other individuals, we see diverse strategies toward racial adversity, showing the complexities of coping with and challenging racism. Cathy Park Hong's work, especially her recent book Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, reveals that writing has been a pivotal outlet for expressing and processing the racism she could not openly discuss as a younger person. Similarly, Hong's writings expose the subtle forms of racism that Asian Americans face, often in contradiction with the 'model minority' stereotype.
Langston Hughes, an African American poet, had to defend his writings before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, where his responses were more measured as he navigated the prejudices of his time. Yet, if the committee had delved deeper into his poetry, they would have understood the background of his motives which were less about Communist ideology and more about his personal experiences with racism during his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas.
Furthermore, Langston Hughes and other writers showcase the ways in which personal experiences with racism are communicated and resisted through literature. In the case of African American narratives, resistance is often linked to the historical experience of segregation and violence, as highlighted in the poignant urgency of historical documents like Martin Luther King Jr.'s letters. Literary confrontation with racism varies in intensity and method, but it shares a common goal of acknowledging, exposing, and countering racial injustices.