tinue to repeat and relive the experiences of the
Middle Passage and slavery, even in the modern
world and particularly in the urban environment
in which a majority of African Americans live. This
is also echoed by the recognition of the role of the
Dutch in the growth and impact of the slave trade
on world history. The play argues that African
Americans, like the main character, Clay, remain
in a perpetual slavery because of white, European
supremacy and domination, represented by Lula,
the white female character.
The play also structures its themes around the
stereotypes of the African-American male, the
white woman, and the history of lynching. Clay’s
attraction to Lula, who first flirts with him on a
subway train and then initiates his communal
murder, reenacts a ritualized violence endemic to
race relations in America. She is attracted to his
“primitive” sexuality and tries to entice him into
a dangerous encounter. Her eating an apple high-
lights her image as a dangerous and mythic tempt-
ress. Her sexuality, her power, her race, and her
seemingly “liberal” nature control the movement
of the subway train and its passengers. She repre-
sents the forces in America that dominate the ide-
ology of the nation from its inception to the CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT of the 1960s.
The issues current to the 1960s and to the origi-
nal production of Dutchman are reflected in some
of the other racial politics Baraka also explores in
the play. For example, Clay at first assumes that
Lula might be a “hippie” by her dress. The liberal
viewpoint that her image implies to him puts him
at ease, and she even gains his trust for a few mo-
ments. Yet she and, by extension, her left-wing
politics betray him. It is this facet of her image that
Baraka indicates might be the most dangerous.
The play cautions that such well-meaning whites
are really disguised racists, using their rhetoric and
their governmental policies to further damage and
destroy the soul of the African American. But Clay
is implicated in his own demise in this reading of
the play by his willingness to assimilate to white at-
titudes and values and to let his identity be defined
by others. In this act, he negates not only himself
but also his past, his race, and his community. In-
stead of being a pawn in such a self-destructive
plan, Baraka suggests, Clay should embrace his
rage and its revolutionary possibilities. Lula’s at-
tempts to “unmask” Clay, to show what is behind
his polite facade, ultimately lead to his downfall
but simultaneously, for a moment at least, liber-
ate the man by forcing him to confront his iden-
tity. Like any other profound tragic hero, Clay is
fated to die, but in the last moments of his life, his
enlightenment, his refusal to let his life be deter-
mined by white culture and history, finally allows
the metaphorical slave to find freedom.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ceynowa, Andrzej. “The Dramatic Structure of
Dutchman.” Black American Literature Forum 17,
no. 1 (1983): 15–18.
Kumar, Nita N. “The Logic of Retribution: Amiri
Baraka’s Dutchman.” African American Review 37,
no. 2–3: (Summer–Fall 2003): 271–279.
Tate, Greg. “How We Talk about Race.” American
Theater 17, no. 5 (2000): 44–46.
Tracie Church GuzzioDyson, Michael Eric (1958– )
Preacher, ethicist, professor, cultural critic, and
public intellectual, Michael Eric Dyson was born
in Detroit, Michigan, in 1958, the son of an auto
worker father and a mother who worked in the city
school system. He reveals his roots and motivation
in I May Not Get There with You (2000): “Although
I grew up on the street, it was the rich tradition of
the black church that saved me and led me to the
world of words and ideas.... [A]s a teacher, writer,
and man of the church, I have traveled around the
country speaking to large audiences, many of them
young people, and I have witnessed a great need.”
Although Dyson had become a teen father by the
time he graduated high school in 1976, he became
a Baptist minister after attending divinity school
in Tennessee. He began college at age 21, and, after
earning his bachelor’s degree, received a fellowship
at Princeton University, where he earned his mas-
ters and doctoral degrees in religion. He has taught
at several major institutions, including the Univer-
sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ColumbiaDyson, Michael Eric 161