Representative American Negroes Paul Laurence Dunbar, african-american poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (1872-1906).
In considering who and what are representative Negroes there are circumstances which compel one to question what is a representative man of the colored race. Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and others lived during the reconstruction period. To have achieved something for the betterment of his race rather than for the aggrandizement of himself, seems to be a man's best title to be called representative.
