If We Must Die By Claude Mckay

It is popular consensus that Claude McKay was an influential intellectual leader during the Harlem Renaissance, however, many people dispute Claude McKay’s writing prose as well as his personal literary itinerary in regards to African American matters, which raises the question, “Assertive? Or offensive?” Is it possible to declare assertion without being offensive? These are just a few questions which developed while reading the profile of Claude McKay in addition to a few of his publications, in particular, “To the White Fiends” and “If We Must Die”. According to history, even other prolific writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as Alain Locke and W.E.B. Du Bois believed McKay’s literary works to be outwardly aggressive and distasteful.
McKay was also very blunt when describing life and culture in Harlem at the time.
Even though McKay was extremely direct, and perhaps a little antagonistic, his writing paints an image for the reader of African American thoughts and feelings towards slavery and freedom during the renaissance. Why did other African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance find McKay’s publication so aggressive and invasive? After reading Home to Harlem, in which the main character falls in love with a prostitute, W.E.B. Du Bois announced that the novel, “for the most part, nauseates me, and after the dirtier parts of its filth I feel distinctly like taking a bath.” Du Bois found McKay’s lewd reflection of Harlem to be intolerable. Claude McKay also depicted prostitutes in his poetry in such works of “The Harlem Dancer” and “Harlem Shadows.” McKay specifically writes about his surroundings in black Harlem in “Harlem Shadows” when he states, “Ah, stern harsh world that in the wretched way of poverty, dishonor, and disgrace, has pushed the timid little feet of clay, the sacred brown feet of my fallen race! Ah, the heart of me the weary, weary feet
In Harlem wandering from street to street.” His words, although candid, were meant to invite the reader into his world in black Harlem where African American women still had very few options for growth and development even though they were free, as many of them still could not read or write. It is evident that while other African American renaissance leaders such as Du Bois and Alain Locke were unaccepting of McKay’s bluntly authentic writing style and portrayal of black Harlem, McKay in return disapproved the “chocolate soufflé” writing styles of so many black intellectuals who seemingly hid behind arrogant paradigms to prevent slighting the white audiences. (pg.1004). McKay was an audacious writer with bold intentions who seemingly valued honesty and authenticity above sugarcoating the truth to spare his reader’s feelings. It is disputable that McKay did not intend to offend with his rash descriptions of Harlem in regards to his experiences, but to educate Americans of the circumstances and events present within their own communities. Two specific publications written by McKay which convey controversial messages to the white audience include, “If We Must Die” and “To the White Fiends”.
The violent tone of “If We Must Die” can easily be interpreted as hostile and vengeful. He writes about “monsters we defy” and “the common foe” which some construe as McKay describing the white community as monsters and enemies. This poem has a clear strong message in that he felt his race was treated the same as “hogs hunted and penned in an inglorious spot.” (pg. 1005). He clearly felt like prey within the Harlem community and declared his unwillingness to continue to be mistreated and abused without fighting back. “To the White Fiends” has a direct audience in which McKay extends his feelings about violence and crime against African Americans to his white readers. “Think you I am not fiend and savage too? Think you I could not arm me with a gun and shoot down ten of you for every one of my black brothers murdered, burnt by you? Be not deceived for every deed you do I could match-outmatch”. Some readers may view this as a threat of violence to the white community, however, could it not also be interpreted as a declaration of pure ability to be just as cruel in return for being mistreated? “But the almighty from the darkness drew my soul and said: Even thou shalt be a light.” This statement identifies his belief in a higher power and being a light for others instead of being swallowed by others’ dark intentions. Even
in McKay's most blunt pieces of work, he seems to keep a logical tone. Although the suggestively violent tone of some of McKay’s publications lead readers to believe he had a vendetta against white people and wished them harm, McKay was actually friends with several Caucasian intellectual figures such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Waldo Frank. Though he occasionally published with black magazines, McKay coincidentally held stronger ties within the white publishing community. His literary beliefs were supported and respected by white officials such as Robinson and Frank who published his first works, “The Harlem Dancer” and “Invocation.” Many white publishers believed the authenticity in McKay’s writing provided readers, both white and black, with an honest view into black Harlem and was necessary in the reformation of American Literature in Harlem. The honest and raw quality which McKay exudes, although contradiction to other African American’s refined expectations of literature during the Harlem renaissance, was an asset to the evolution of literature from predominantly white and “sophisticated” to equal opportunity for African Americans to express their unfiltered experiences in an authentic and educated way. In the debate of Claude McKay, assertive or offensive, there is no surface evidence to commit to the idea that he had violent or disrespectful intentions towards the white community. While many people, white and black alike, found McKay’s authentic portrayal of Harlem offensive, he rejected social magnitude as a means for “production of inferior art.” (pg. 1004). Literature is a means of expression through the experiences of a single writer. How the reader analyzes the material and interprets the message is on an individual basis and cannot be the responsibility of the writer. If we are not free to express ourselves through the written word, then what is the significance of developing literature and what is the worth of an intellectual mind? Claude McKay was a revolutionary during the Harlem renaissance who seemingly valued the candid and authentic trait over the comfort of society.