Constitutional crisis: Japanese-American evacuation and its aftermath

Never before have the souls of Black people clamoured in such an intense unison for their rightful place under a harsh, "white American sum " More than the religious guarantees of eternal and peaceful life, more than an end to their poverty, more than a rise to political equality and power, the Black is screaming for his black soul—his feelings, his creative genius—to be recognized, to be acknowledged, to be allowed to contribute to his and world affairs. American Blacks want the world to know that their fore-fathers were not only slaves and share croppers, but they have made contributions to all disciplines of life. Their contribution was concomitant with that of white Americans, but it took the Blacks themselves to make their contributions known. In the field of literature today there are anthologies which include the literary contributions of Blacks from as early as 1?60. Among the most frequently anthologized writers is Claude McKay, whose poetry can be found in almost any anthology dealing with Black writers of the 1920's. There has been no thorough study devoted to Claude McKay, and since interest in his poetry runs so high, I think such a work would be valuable.