RACIAL ELEMENTS IN CLAUDE MCKAY'S POETRY

Claude McKay (1889-1948) is a pioneering-poet of Harlem Renaissance. In
the early 20th century, the Americans saw a revival of African Culture and its
expression through many artistic forms like music, dancing and poetry. McKay was
born with ‘black and blue’ colour and brought up in the racial Jamaica. So very early
in his life he was exposed to the racial-attitude of the white people. As a result, racial
consciousness had become a part and parcel of his life. He was one of the members of
the group of very sensitive black intellectuals and artists who had gathered in the
name of race and colour, to give an unprecedented exposure to their problems, hopes
and aspirations. McKay had added his colourful dash to this invaluable task done by
the Harlem writers. This paper focuses on the racial elements found in his poetry