(Adjective?) Writer

"One of the most promising of the young Negro poets said to me once, 'I want to be a poet--not a Negro poet,' meaning, I believe, 'I want to write like a white poet'; meaning subconsciously, 'I would like to be a white poet'; meaning behind that, 'I would like to be white.' And I was sorry the young man said that, for no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself." -Langston Hughes

When I read the line "I want to be a poet--not a Negro poet" I interpreted a different meaning than Langston Hughes did. When I first read the line I thought it expressed a positive sentiment. If I were a poet I do not think I would want to be called a woman poet; I would feel that by tacking "woman" before poet it creates a separation between myself and other poets, "real" poets, male poets. Of course, that might just be the little feminist in me talking. But in any other situation wouldn't we feel offended by such qualifying terms? I wouldn't feel right about someone saying "a woman doctor" or "Negro lawyer." Are they any more or less a doctor/lawyer because they are black/a woman? Does that change the quality of their work?

I can see, that in the case of poets, the nature of the work might change due to race, gender, etc. But despite differences in subject matter, poets are still poets, are they not? Hughes is no more a less a poet for being an African American poet. Dickinson is no more or less a poet for being a woman poet.

Is there a benefit to making racial/gender/etc distinctions between poets?