Read the excerpt from "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." Let the blare of Negro jazz bands and the bellowing voice of B
essie Smith singing Blues penetrate the closed ears of the colored near intellectual until they listen and perhaps understand. Let Paul Robeson singing “Water Boy,” and Rudolph Fisher writing about the streets of Harlem, and Jean Toomer holding the heart of Georgia in his hands, and Aaron Douglas drawing strange black fantasies cause the smug Negro middle class to turn from their white, respectable, ordinary books and papers to catch a glimmer of their own beauty. According to this excerpt, why is it important that the “near intellectuals” expose themselves to Bessie Smith, Paul Robeson, and other African American artists? to help these musicians and writers become more successful to better understand and appreciate their heritage to learn more about key individuals in mainstream culture to create music and writing that reflects their ancestors’ beliefs
to better understand and appreciate their heritage
Explanation:
In the last line of the excerpt he wants these artists to "cause the smug Negro middle class to turn from their white, respectable, ordinary books and papers to catch a glimmer of their won beauty." In this line "their own beauty" is the heritage of African Americans. The "near intellectuals" aren't musicians and writers. They are African Americans who are paying attention more to white culture than their own history.
