Langston Hughes
As this is an expository essay, the narrator is the most crucial character, since he makes the argument on which the essay is based. In this short piece, Hughes comes across as exhortative yet respectful, kindly reprimanding the folly of his subjects while encouraging his readers to embrace African-American culture more boldly. In his denigration of African-American artists' practice of conforming to white ideals, as well as the African-American middle class's valuation of white standards over Black ones, Hughes speaks firmly but tactfully; he lends encouragement and hope to young artists rather than simply lodging his polemic in the direction of critics.
The Young Poet
Hughes opens the essay by relating a short anecdote about a promising young African-American poet who says, "I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet" (1). This statement, as Hughes demonstrates, reflects an undeserved idolization of white poetry and culture that relegates Black culture to the undesirable. This poet is the target of Hughes, who claims that he is "ashamed" for this poet and uses this anecdote at both the beginning and the end of the essay to bring it full circle. Many have speculated that Hughes here refers to fellow poet Countee Cullen, with whom Hughes often disagreed about the utility of poetry. However, the poet remains unnamed throughout the essay.
Clara Smith
Clara Smith was a great African-American classic blues singer famous for singing African-American folksongs. Hughes includes a reference to her music, saying that the pretentious middle-class African-American will refuse to see her concerts but will go to see those of Raquel Meller, a Spanish singer celebrated by white society.
Raquel Meller
Raquel Meller was a popular Spanish singer and actress, famous for singing Andalusian popular songs. Hughes includes a reference to her music, saying that for upper-class Black citizens, Meller had become preferable to talented blues singers like Clara Smith.
Charles Chesnutt
Charles Chesnutt was an African-American writer, activist, and lawyer whose novels Hughes praises but laments that they are going out of print due to lack of appreciation. For Hughes, Chesnutt's work is an example of the unfortunate truth that the serious Black artists interested in representing Black life must contend with little appreciation in their lifetimes.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American novelist, poet, and playwright famous for writing in the style of the African-American dialect. Hughes laments that this brilliant style was, in the time of Dunbar, merely seen as odd or amusing in the same way that one might view a "sideshow freak" or a "clown."
