The essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" by Langston Hughes has many ties to the themes of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes wants black people to stop trying to be as white as they possibly can and to start realizing that being a Negro is a wonderful thing. He says that there is a mountain standing in the way of the true Negro artist. He wants to knock down this mountain just as the Harlem Renaissance did. .
Hughes wants to celebrate the lives of ordinary black people and he does not want black writers to fear writing about everyday life as an African American. He says, "No great poet has ever been afraid of being himself." If the artist holds on to his African American culture and expresses this through art, instead of trying to be more "white," he will be a truly great artist. There are some black people who do not like how their race in portrayed in the arts. They want white people to think that they are as near white as they are. There is no reason why black people should be ashamed to be black. Through writing and singing about their culture it could change the hearts and minds of many people. .
Hughes is trying to empower the black person to shake off the chains that hold him down. Black people should not fear who they are, they should acknowledge it and be proud.