New Negro Essays

New Negro Essays New Negro Essay New Negro Essay Essay Topic: The New Negro Blacks thought there was hope through art. The Harlem Renaissance was the most artistic period in African-American history. Since the abolition of slavery, great social and cultural transformations were taking place and the Harlem Renaissance reflects that change. Now that they had freedom to express themselves on their own terms, African-Americans began to explore their own culture and celebrate it through their artistic and intellectual means. Langston Hughes in â€Å"When the Negro was in vogue† and Rudolph Fisher in â€Å"The Caucasian storms Harlem† manage to rise well above mere written entertainment by offering practical social challenges. No reader is left without a public dilemma to personally ponder. Both essays share the same goal of getting people to think and act seriously when it2 comes to social and civil issues. Using tones ranging from anger and solemnity to shock and outright jest, these authors seek to alter the status quo by persuading readers to thoughtfully approach the problems presented. In his essay, Langston Hughes reminisces about the Harlem Renaissance. He says that white interest and patronage of black clubs and artists was not appreciated by most Blacks. It causes Blacks to alter their art to please the Whites. Some thought that this new interest in Black culture would lead to tolerance, but it didn’t. In fact, Hughes says it had very little impact on the lives of regular people: â€Å"The ordinary Negroes hadn’t heard of the Negro Renaissance. And if they had, it hadn’t raised their wages any. † Rudolph Fisher speaks about the manner in which the Harlem Renaissance operated in the same way. A huge dynamic of the movement was in how it was received by white America. Whites were fascinated by the culture and society that they found so separate from themselves. They would venture to Harlem at night to get a taste of something â€Å"exotic†. It is the first time in American history where attention and admiration was given to anything African-American. Unfortunately, this fascination displaced the original clientele who became uncomfortable with all the attention. He says: â€Å"The managers don’t hesitate to say that it is upon these predominant white patrons that they depend for success. These places therefore are no longer mine but theirs. † A similarity to notice is that each author is alerting the readers about the progress made by the African- American artists of the time. It is a period of great achievement in theatre (Katharine Cornell, Margaret Wicherly, Leslie Carter), music (Gladys Bentley, Roland Hayes) and literature. Now that they have the freedom to express themselves on their own terms African-Americans began to explore their own culture and celebrate it through their artistic and intellectual means. I think that even though the Blacks took the interest in their entertainment as a form of exploitation of their talents they also gained from their spotlight and used it to the best of their advantage. This was progress on the road towards acceptance and race equality.