Race – Consciousness in Selected Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Abstract

Abstract Some critics believe that Paul Laurence Dunbar, the African American poet, does not concentrate in his writing on his race or blackness but rather he concentrates on his nationality as an American poet. It is true that Dunbar tried hard to achieve this aim during his life time but he found it impossible to transcend completely the influence of his race on his poetry. A considered reading of some of Dunbar's poems affirms his loyalty to the black race and his pride in its achievements, as well as his righteous anger over racial injustice.