Themes: Race and Racism

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Racial oppression and hostility are central themes in Dutchman. However, the play is not just a simple critique of racism. Rather, it serves as a harsh criticism of a specific approach to combating racism that Baraka sees as ineffective: assimilation. Clay represents the type of assimilation often pursued by many in the black middle class, which involves adopting white cultural values through a "white" education. He carries a stack of books and dresses in a manner befitting a well-educated person. Lula seems to detest Clay at first glance, identifying him as a "type" she has encountered often. She suggests that he has a black friend with a "phony English accent." Lula tells Clay that he seems to be trying to grow a beard and has "been reading Chinese poetry and drinking lukewarm sugarless tea." These traits are characteristic of a Bohemian intellectual, much like Baraka was when he wrote this play.

Lula's disdain for Clay is due not only to his race but also to his apparent attempts to reject his racial identity. She criticizes him for his submissive acceptance of assimilation as a noble goal, saying, "Boy, those narrow-shoulder clothes come from a tradition you ought to feel oppressed by." When she mocks him by pointing out that his grandfather was a slave who did not attend Harvard, he weakly counters by saying his grandfather was a night watchman. Essentially, Clay tries to distance himself from his slave ancestry, even if it means neglecting his black identity. He mentions that he was the only student at a "colored college" who did not idolize Averell Harriman, a white American statesman, but instead admired Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, a white French poet. Clay seeks to distinguish himself, but his efforts are limited to surface-level changes, prioritizing art over politics.

Clay also fails to recognize the irony of his situation; he is as misguided as the other students at the black college who aspire to be white leaders instead of black ones. Lula points out that he would need to become the black Baudelaire, and she scolds him, saying, "I'll bet you never once thought you were a black nigger." Clay's ambition is not about becoming an educated black man; he seems to aspire to be white—or at least to immerse himself so thoroughly in white intellectualism that his race becomes irrelevant. Lula reminds him of his black identity, and when she accuses him of being a murderer, it becomes evident that it is his black self he is metaphorically destroying.

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