ABSTRACT
The sixth chapter turns to two plays by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka—Dutchman and The Slave. The former takes up the common motif of interracial romance. That motif often operates to suggest the possibility of overcoming racial antagonism and joining blacks and whites (or other racial groups) in a personal union that represents a national reconciliation. But, in Baraka’s version, the apparent romance is simply a conduit for the expression of white supremacism and the subordination, even murder, of black people. Whereas Dutchman concerns romantic relations—or, more accurately, seduction—The Slave takes up another cross-cultural narrative genre. It is in part a heroic—or perhaps anti-heroic—emplotment of the place of African Americans in the U.S. The heroic genre is often closely connected with anger. Such anger is clear in Baraka’s play as are some of the reasons for it. But there is a political difficulty with both plays. I am not blaming Baraka for this. The problem may be simply taken over from the real world. In any case, neither work seems to hold out much hope for the future of America in general or African Americans in particular. Both plays are suggestive of despair.
