August Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson’s legacy is made up of his contributions in theatre. His work included a series of ten plays, “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” for which he won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Each of his plays portrayed a different decade that shared the comic and tragic aspects of the African-American experience in the 20^th century. Wilson is seen as a notable playwright who’s most famous play, Fences, is referred to as “the tragedy of the common man.” His best work is considered to describe a world that only a handful of audiences have seen, as it challenges wisdom about race.

Through his creations, Wilson was able to offer a larger message on how race, power, and language intersect in the United States. His play’s that note the struggles of being African-American in the 20^th century shows the audience the emphasis on these topics. In “Language, power, and the performance of race and class,” by Benjamin Bailey, we see an idea that “… the commonsense notion of race as being about physical appearance is misleading, and that race is more fundamentally about power.” This idea is supported in fences where the audience follows a 53-year-old head of household named Troy who struggles with providing for his family. In the earliest instance of the play, we see Troy’s race being challenged through power rather than physical appearance (which Benjamin Bailey illustrated). Troy’s character is revealed through his speech about how he went up to their boss, Mr. Rand and asked why Black men are not allowed to drive garbage trucks (Troy works as a garbage man).

Wilson’s writings helps reveal a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States through his situations his African-American characters have to go through because of the racial discrimination at the time.