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Mason AA Lit 20 October 2013 Identity and Religion in African American Literature Who are you? What do you believe in? The answers to these questions do not easily spring forth from our lips. It can be difficult to determine what corners of belief you fall into, whether you like all or parts of something, even more so when you are determining what you believe to be true and necessary when it comes to describing yourself. However, it becomes nearly impossible when trying to do so when society already tells you what it thinks you should be. African American writers faced the challenge of creating an identity, including religious, political and economical, that was purely their own, one that could bend with their desires and emotions, one that was not solely determined by the history of the slave trade. The writers Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E. B. DuBois and Zora Neale Hurston all contributed to their own versions of discerning their identities. During slavery, the role and identity of a black person was relatively simple to define in white society. They were other, less than human, animalistic things to do the bidding of their masters. They only gave into their baser instincts and could not contribute to the overall betterment of high society. These ideas are what the writers had to work against, for there was a need to show the blatant wrongness of this way of thinking. A certain approach had to be used, for fear of words falling on deaf ears. Writers such as Equiano, Douglass and Washington take slightly less in-your-face

approaches than DuBois and Hurston. Equianos Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano appealed to the white audience by entreating the pardon of the whites reading the book, claiming to offer a work devoid of literary merit (189). Washington takes a similar approach, especially in his way of dealing with social discourse. He encourages fellow blacks to slowly ease themselves into society after slavery, to prove themselves as valuable members of society by working hard and keeping their heads down. DuBois argues vehemently against Washingtons approach, stating that his approach practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro races (703), something he was not willing to accept. DuBois alludes that Washingtons tone is more deferential and apologetic than it needs to be. Hurston explores the characteristics of Negro expression with the idea of drama and adornment in mind. She claims that it is a vital and inescapable quality of blacks to express themselves boldly, particularly through literary devices such as metaphors, which are of course the opposite of Washingtons approach. A part of determining ones identity inevitably leads to the question of religion. Most of the writers stood together in their approach to religion, some more intense than others. Equiano and Douglass attempted to appeal to the goodwill of the supposedly Christian audiences by demonstrating how blacks were similar in disposition and behaviors to whites, that they were equally as capable of demonstrating love and restraint as whites. They also appealed by showcasing the brutal nature of slavery in hopes that the white audiences would do their best to atone for the awfulness. Washington does not focus a lot of energy on religion, choosing instead a more rational, less emotional appeal to the civility of white folk. Lastly, DuBois and Hurston have the most negative relationships with religion, DuBois more so than Hurston. Where Hurston merely felt the

church wasnt for her, and could appreciate how it tied the community together, DuBois was strongly against the church, claiming that it took attention and support away from abolitionist movements.