Talents and Segregation

The African American sermon has a broad impact on black culture. In “Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the protagonist describes how the musical and oratorical talents of the black preacher and singer he watches are funneled into the black church. There is also talk earlier in his life of the organ player at church who teaches him. I think that this may also reflect the larger trend of black citizens to try and find outlets for their talents, despite how they are limited by white imposed segregation as to where they find these outlets. The great preacher he describes could have used his oratorial talents to become a senator or some other kind of politician. However, segregation makes his options for expressing his talents fewer. He talks about black university graduates whose education serves only to make them available for department clerk positions, unlike their white school mates. I think that this may explain how much of the power came to the classical black spiritual songs; during slavery the musical geniuses among the slaves who could have been a Chopin or other great composer has only their unlearned voices to compose with, creating some of the most enduring songs of that era. The limits segregation placed on talented members of the black community, and the treatment they endured, was a strong element of Johnson’s work.