Summary Of Helene Johnson's Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem

Thesis statement: Hughes wrote this when Jim Crow laws were still imposing an bitter segregated society in the South. There were still lynchings of innocent African Americans, there was no Civil Rights Movement, there was no Civil Rights legislation yet, and Blacks couldn't eat at lunch counters in the South. Harlem, however, was not at all like the South in terms of blatant, legal segregation. However, racism was very much in place in many places in America. Blacks were second class citizens, their children attended schools that were ill-equipped, and the dreams of Black citizens were not being realized in this period.

The division between whites and blacks was clearly prevalent and the United States of America was a racially discriminatory society reinforced by its racist laws. Hughes took the initiative to speak his mind via poetry, resulting in his piece “I, Too”. In this poem, Hughes clearly signifies one thing: Just because his skin color is different from whites, does not mean that they get to sing the National Anthem louder. Arguing that all American citizens are the same, disregarding their skin color, Hughes applies in this poem a master-slave relationship. The assumed white master shows disrespect to his servant by sending him away whenever visitors come over, because he is ordered to eat secluded from the company. However he seems to not be faze by this and actually finds it funny, supported by “But I laugh” (5). Furthermore, not only does he find amusement in this unpleasant situation, but the isolation has a positive effect on him “And grow strong” (7), implying that even though he submits to his master, his spirit will not be diminished.

In conclusion, the poem was used as a key to unlock some of the thoughts the negro had concerning Africa. The negro in this poem was a representative of all negroes during this time; their thoughts and the their feelings toward Africa. Cullen’s usage of the literary devices allow for an effective expression of the meaning of this poem. Poems are intensified language of experience, so the devices assured the connection of the reader to the poem and the experience. This applies to many issues in society today because as beautiful as our country is there are still dark clouds that cover the very essence of what the states once stood

The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land (qtd. in W.T.L. 235).

In the midst of a long passage on black people in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson (who sniffed that [Phyllis] Wheatley’s poetry was “below the dignity of criticism”) proposed that black inferiority- “in the endowment of both body and mind”- might be an unchangeable law of nature. (181)

(pp. 64) “Notes of a Native Son” - “... his tremendous power and, even, a rather crushing charm… he claimed to be proud of his blackness.” (pp. 66) “ I could see him, sitting at the window locked up in his terrors; hating and fearing every living

One last point that this all demonstrates is that the outcome of much of the black community in America was not predestined and could have been avoided. The people of Northampton have shown that the ideas by which people treated blacks, and unfortunately sometimes still do, did not have to turn out the way it did. The color of one's skin had and has not thing to do with a person's capability and should not define how one is to be treated. Though much of Johnson's experiences were often due to luck, he also proved that one does not have to always succumb to a society's apprehensions towards certain issues and can create his own success by any means

Many Blacks were ignored completely by the Harlem movement. Those who were to poor to afford to travel to Harlem were shunned. The idea of the "New Negro", one who was sophisticated and worldly, often isolated African-Americans who were poor or uneducated. It made them inadequate. Not only did they face discrimination from White racists, they now also felt a form of discrimination from the "New Negroes" as well. Many felt that they were an embarrassment, however more felt anger. To be discriminated by your own race was appalling. Nathan I. Huggins wrote in regards to the Harlem Renaissance, "The Harlem intellectuals…became mimics of Whites, earning the epithet ‘dicty niggers' from the very people they were supposed to be championing." (Document E) Blacks from the South felt that the Harlem intellectuals were ignoring their culture, and conforming to the

“The Negro, too, for his part, has idols of the tribe to smash. If on the one hand the white man has erred in making the Negro appear to be that which would excuse or extenuate his treatment of him, the Negro, in turn, has too often unnecessarily excused himself because of the way he has been treated. The

The “new” negro no longer embodied “old” characteristics that defined a black man. Society had always taught a black man how to act; however, now he was adapting to the world. Locke declared that ‘the Old Negro’ had long become more of a myth than a man” (Locke, 1). A furthered and detailed definition of an “Old Negro” was that he “was a creature of moral debating historical controversy” (Locke, 1). The four

The Kansas City Call summed up the general mentality of African Americans during the 1920s with the statement “The New Negro does not fear the face of day.” (pg 118) Unlike the old days of slavery, African Americans had become more radical towards their oppressor and were beginning to organize as a people. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude Mckay embraced the “New Negro” archetype in his work by stating “If we must die, let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot….. Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed

The essay The New Negro by Alain Locke’s defines what Locke believes to be the “Old Negro and the “New Negro. This paper will compare and contrasts Marcus Garvey The Future as I See it and Langston Hughes various poems on why Locke would have characterized them as either Old Negroes, New Negroes, or both. I believe Locke, Garvey , Hughes were determined to see Blacks succeed. Each writer expresses their idea in their own unique way, but they all wanted freedom, equality, and respect.

Claude McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer,” focuses on an African American woman performing in a nightclub during a period of time in the 1920’s know as the Harlem Renaissance. She faces the crisis of self-exploitation and perception while exposing her “perfect half-clothed body (line 2)” to those who “toss coins in praise (line 10)” of her dancing. One can conclude from line 14 of the poem, “I knew her self was not in that strange place,” that the dancer feels like a slave to her job in being that perhaps she is doing it against her will. She appears not mentally strong enough to stop doing it.

Race plays a big part in this poem. He speaks on Harlem and its culture and this environment but also about mutual interest with people

Wintz, Cary D, and Finkleman Paul. Reference book of the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Taylor and Francis Book, Inc., 2004.