White Violence In Amiri Baraka's Dutchman

White Violence and the Black Response in Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman

How long in history has the Black individual been associated with violence? In various cases throughout literature Blacks have been portrayed as very simply, violent by nature. They are depicted as people who simply act violent for violence’s sake. But, does one ever hear of the origin of this violence and where it might be stemming from? The notion that Black individuals are violent just because, is baseless and just all around wrong. There is cause and effect at work with this notion. Violence as whole manifests itself in Black communities, largely as a response to forms of overarching, pervasive forms of violence pressed upon them from an imposing, dominant power. Amiri Baraka demonstrates this in his play, Dutchman, showing this dynamic at work in a manner that is jarring, but easily understood when analyzed. Before delving into the extended metaphor that Amiri Baraka drew out, it helps to have a firm understanding of the institutionalized violence at work against the Black race. Since colonialization of the Americas and the introduction of slavery, violence against blacks has
It’s like a type of conditioning has been conducted on the Black race. Whites can physically, verbally, and sexually abuse Blacks on all types of different levels and oppress and us, but when we fight back against this violence on a physical level, it begets a more violent response back. It seems that over time, this would just simply keep Blacks from fighting back at all, but much like how the types of violence and oppression have changed over the years, so to have the ways to combat this violence. Literature, as proven through the Black Arts Movement, is an effective means to “fight” back and do so without evoking a response that can lead to loss of excessive loss of life ultimately, but can in fact make changes and make these issues