“Whatever power any writing can have can only be in proportion to its real merit in the thought-world, regardless of all source from which it came.”

Arguing that literary merit should be judged by the quality of the thought rather than the writer’s race. · Essay, The Negro as a Writer

• Literature
• Merit
• Writing

“The Negro writer has it largely in his power to demonstrate the higher possibilities and capabilities of his race.”

Seeing literature as a means of demonstrating intellectual and creative achievement. · Essay, The Negro as a Writer

• Achievement
• Possibility
• Writing

“This is a domain that mocks at legislative restrictions, caste, exclusionism and what not.”

Celebrating literature as a sphere capable of escaping social and political barriers. · Essay, The Negro as a Writer

• Equality
• Freedom
• Literature