Zora Neale Hurston is regarded as one of the most astute modernist writers of the 20th century. During the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston’s writings transcended her peers while on a quest to be known as just a writer, without emphasis on race or gender. Making a conscious decision to not engage on such topics, Hurston receive criticism from her peers insinuating that she was not doing enough to help her generation. Due to this criticism and pressure, Hurston responds with a somewhat autobiographical essay entitled “How It Feels to be Colored Me”. By illustrating the damaging effect that repetitively using race as a crutch, instead of being liberated by differences, Hurston’s essay captures a strong sense of individual identity, reflects cultural identity, and rejects racial injustices.
The Harlem Renaissance was an era that exposed the world to a multitude of artist, …show more content…
She reiterates how she is fully aware and conscious of her cultural identity, how she reflects herself as an individual, and how she rejects the social implications of race, much like her peers would like for her to repetitively drown in the sorrows of her blackness. She sarcastically mocks them for compartmentalizing themselves instead of being liberated by the person who God created them to be. During the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was depicted more as a martyr than the author, folklorist, and anthropologist that she was. It was her distinct ideas that caused her peers to see her as someone other than them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Hurston’s death that this essay would gain the attention and appreciation it deserved. All Hurston wanted to express was that she was a writer, not a colored writer. By only acknowledging one aspect of what made her Zora Neale Hurston, was just as damaging as her peers only wanting to be acknowledged as the colored writers of the Harlem
The Harlem Renaissance was an era that exposed the world to a multitude of artist, …show more content…
She reiterates how she is fully aware and conscious of her cultural identity, how she reflects herself as an individual, and how she rejects the social implications of race, much like her peers would like for her to repetitively drown in the sorrows of her blackness. She sarcastically mocks them for compartmentalizing themselves instead of being liberated by the person who God created them to be. During the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was depicted more as a martyr than the author, folklorist, and anthropologist that she was. It was her distinct ideas that caused her peers to see her as someone other than them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Hurston’s death that this essay would gain the attention and appreciation it deserved. All Hurston wanted to express was that she was a writer, not a colored writer. By only acknowledging one aspect of what made her Zora Neale Hurston, was just as damaging as her peers only wanting to be acknowledged as the colored writers of the Harlem