Leroi Jones’s work, The Dutchman, seems to me to be a rather controversial piece, but one which presents real merit and forces me to really examine what constitutes a truly integrated America. Going beyond the almost parasitic relationship between blacks and whites presented in Professor Lennon’s reading of the play discussed in class, Lula, a symbolic and literal representative of the white race, is clearly depicted as a being which feeds on black culture to survive. Given some of her initial words to Clay, “Weren't
you
staring
at
me
through
the
window,” I could not help but ask myself, why would he even entertain having a conversation, rife with obvious sexual undertones, with this random woman on the subway?
The answer I quickly arrived at was that Clay wanted to have intercourse with her, but in continuing this conversation with Lula, after being insulted in a myriad of ways, it seems that Jones has made Clay into a sort of embodiment of yet another stereotype: the sex crazed black male. I think this is intentional in that perhaps Jones is suggesting or even hinting at Clay’s hand in his own demise, and ultimately involvement of Blacks in their own domination by Whites. With this in mind, by the play’s conclusion no one seems to have truly clean hands. Although Lula does physically kill Clay in the end, I have to insist on his own involvement in his death. Very shortly after making Clay’s acquaintance, Lula accuses Clay of attempting to start an incestuous relationship with his own sister, “‘You
tried
to
make
it
with
your
sister
when
you
were
ten.” Although her statement can be read and interpreted as referring to the word “sister” in a more slang inspired light as a term used to describe any black woman, I feel the usage of this word in this particular context is in fact more literal. Clay’s response is not one of outrage or even refusal of this quite taboo accusation. He responds by stating, “What're
you
talking
about?
Warren
tell
you
that?
You're a friend of Georgia's?
” Clay again neglects to stop conversing with Lula after her comment, but instead inquires about her; in effect ensuring that the conversation continues. Clay seems to be more preoccupied with what the conversation could lead to, as opposed to having true concern for the actual words that are being exchanged between himself and Lula.
With the comparison given in class to this work and Dr. King’s Dream speech, I definitely read this piece as a dramatic response by Jones to this notion of King’s dream of a harmonious union of all races through the act of integration. The Dutchman almost reads as a quasi-didactic, cautionary tale. Jones seems to be attempting to impress on both races, black and white, the need to not take integration lightly. For Blacks, Jones is obviously warning against the subtle naivety that Dr. King championed in his appeal to the nation in his speech. Unlike King’s warning to the militant members of the black community, Jones seems to warn whites not only their existence, but also of their capacity to do violence in Clay’s final monologue. Jones's response is quite brilliant and clearly cynical, but in it he refuses to really absolve either race of blame, while addressing the issue of integration.
