native son

¹

noun

1. a person born in a particular place.

   The delegation from Iowa nominated a native son.

Native Son

²

noun

1. a novel (1940) by Richard Wright.

Native Son

1. (1940) A novel by African-American author Richard Wright about a young black man whose life is destroyed by poverty and racism.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Native Son¹

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

I write this columna during a long deportation summer unleashed on L.A. and beyond by a native son of Santa Monica in what amounts to a racist revanchist snit.

From Los Angeles Times

Greenberg, a native son of Long Island, encoded his social observations about the frenzied real estate hierarchy in comic language that rarely if ever missed its mark.

From Los Angeles Times

The freedom to engage with books like Richard Wright’s “Native Son,” Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and Nathan McCall’s “Manchild in the Promised Land.” offered a connection to our personal stories and collective histories while augmenting our official instruction which emphasized the histories and accomplishments of white men.

From Salon

And the great James Baldwin in his classic 1955 analysis of race in America, Notes of a Native Son, wrote:

From Salon

But there is something else to Oshu’s love for its native son.

From Los Angeles Times