Bop By Langston Hughes (1949)

Langston Hughes, the author of Bop, was the first African American writer to have an international literary reputation. After abandoning Columbia University where he studied engineering, and leaving the merchant marines, Hughes helped to initiate the Harlem Renaissance with his two revolutionary books of poetry. Written in the time leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, Hughes’ essay Bop addresses society and sheds light on the obvious inequality between Blacks and Whites. This narrative-style essay conveys his argument – that Blacks are treated as inferior – through conversation with the witty character named Simple.

            The narration begins with the narrator walking past Simple. Simple starts a conversation with the narrator who declares that Bop music is “nonsense” (Hughes 190). Simple convinces the narrator that race “is in everything” (Hughes 190) and that “Be-Bop [music] is the real thing like the colored boys play” (Hughes 190). Hughes indirectly addresses and challenges society’s viewpoint as he highlights the mistreatment of Black people through Simple’s interpretation of Bop music. Simple says that Bop music is for people who “have seen dark days” (Hughes 191) because it originates “From the police beating Negroes’ heads” (Hughes 191). Simple’s hyperbolic statements about the origin of Bop music effectively asserts Hughes’ message about the inferior treatment of Blacks. Hughes’ characterization of Simple in this essay serves as a powerful tool in his successful portrayal of the unequal treatment of Black people. Simple rants that he may be stopped “because [he] is a black man in a white neighborhood” and “a cop is liable to grab me almost any time and beat my head – just for being colored” (Hughes 191). In this way, Hughes highlights the extent of the mistreatment of Blacks. In addition to this, Hughes’ use of colloquialisms in Simple’s speech allows for readers to connect and understand the message of the essay in a way that they would not be able to if it was written more formally. Hughes’ use of rhetorical strategies such as hyperboles, colloquialisms and narrative-style writing are effective in communicating his message that Blacks are treated as inferior to White people.

Do you know what Be-Bop music is?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/14/what-if-jazz-giant-john-coltrane-had-lived.html