Table of Contents
Introduction 9
Chronology 13
Chapter 1 Background on Langston Hughes
1 The Life of an Artist and Activist R. Baxter Miller 16
2 Hughes's Abolitionist Ancestors and Boyhood Segregation Arnold Rampersad 28
Chapter 2 Race in the Poetry of Langston Hughes
1 The Social Messages in the Poetry of Langston Hughes Onwuchekwa Jemie 38
2 Langston Hughes + Poetry = The Blues Yusef Komunyakaa 49
3 Langston Hughes: The Writer, His Poetics and the Artistic Process Martha Cobb 55
4 Hughes's Contradictory Reactions to the Christian Church Mary Beth Culp 64
5 The Parental Rejection of the Tragic Mulatto Arthur P. Davis 73
6 Hughes Took Advantage of the Tension Between Style and Theme Raymond Smith 82
7 The Politics of Hughes's Lynching Poems W. Jason Miller 91
8 Rage, Repudiation, and Endurance: Langston Hughes's Radical Writings Christopher C. DeSantis 99
Chapter 3 Contemporary Perspectives on Race
1 Laws in 2011 and 2012 Are Designed to Diminish Minority Votes Wendy R. Weiser Lawrence Norden 117
2 Defusing Implicit Bias Jonathan Feingold Karen Lorang 126
3 An Actor with a Sense of Responsibility to Human and Civil Rights Stuart Jeffries 135
4 Alabama Looks for Way to Pardon Scottsboro Boys Phillip Rawls 143
For Further Discussion 147
For Further Reading 148
Bibliography 149
Index 154
