| Account limit of 2000 requests per hour exceeded. |
What Impact Did The Harlem Renaissance Have On Whites?
I need to know the effect that the Harlem Renaissance had on whites.
Those writers who accepted the “American Dream” became image-builders. They used all the individual achievements of the Ne gro in the arts as evidence that the Ne gro was ready for integration into American society. These same writers were faced with two major problems. One was that they had to cope with the stereotype of the Ne gro as lazy and oversexed. The black writer could not present too radical a portrayal of the Ne gro for fear of incurring white reprisal. Some whites wanted only to be assured that the Ne gro was loyal and docile. Second, the image-builders had to deal with the stereotyped Ne gro created by the theater. The theater depicted the Ne gro as childish and ignorant in roles such as Jim Crow and Jim Dandy. In black-face minstrel shows the Ne gro was portrayed, by both black and white performers, with grotesque features— enormous lips and a coal-black face. It was difficult, if not impossible, for some whites not to associate characteristics or mannerisms of the Ne gro represented on the stage with the Ne gro in real life.
The only way to counter the image portrayed in the white theater was to establish a Ne gro theater. DuBois stated that a black theater should have four fundamental principles: it should be “About Us, By Us, For Us, and Near Us.” For a short time, the Krigwa Players’ Little Ne gro Theater seemed to fulfill DuBois’ four fundamental principles. However, this group foundered for three reasons. Plays written by Ne groes were scarce, thus Ne groes were tempted to borrow or adapt white plays. It was nearly impossible to keep good Ne gro actors from being drawn to “white theaters” which paid more money. Finally there was little support from the black community.
It is impossible to talk about the Harlem Renaissance without examining the contributions of the white intellectuals and patrons. Many black writers of the Harlem Renaissance would not have been able to complete their works of art had it not been for the financial support of whites. It was also through white connections with publishers that many black writers were able to get their works into print. The Ne gro writer also received financial support from other sources, one of which must be noted. In 1928, A’Leilia Walker, daughter of the Madame Walker who made millions in the hair-dressing industry, decided to become a patron of the Neg ro cultural movement. A’Leilia dedicated a floor of her mansion, the “Dark Tower,” to Neg ro artists for planning and discussing their works.
There was something to be gained in Harlem for both the Neg ro and the white intellectual. Harlem served as a place of relief for whites, a place where they could get away from the Puritan ethic and just have fun. The moral code in Harlem wasn’t too restrictive; sex and alcohol were readily available. The exciting night life appealed to bored affluent whites. One such white was the writer Carl Van Vechten, whose contributions to the Harlem Renaissance were invaluable. He helped many black writers get their works published, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen among others. Van Vechten’s most controversial book was Nigger Heaven, shocking primarily because of its title. The book tried to demonstrate that there was a wide range of Neg roes varying in talent and sophistication, and tended to glorify the exotic side of black life.
Van Vechten had become so well acquainted with Harlem and its black intellectuals that after a while it became a privilege to get a tour of Harlem from Vechten. Even more popular were his parties, where several Neg roes would be in attendance. Other affluent whites followed Van Vechten’s lead and Ne gro parties became the “in thing.”
By the 1920’s a wave of white authors were ready to take up the Ne gro as an artistic subject. Among them were Eugene O’Neill (Emperor Jones and All God’s Chillun Got Wings), E.E. Cummings (The Enormous Room), Waldo Frank (Holiday), Sherwood Anderson (Dark Laughter), and Du Bose Hayward (Porgy, later made into the musical Porgy and Bess, and Mamba’s Daughters).
Since white Americans were ready to accept the Ne gro as a subject for works of art, it would seem only natural that they were also ready to patronize the Ne gro’s art and literature. Two works of literature by black writers which met with a great deal of success were Rudolph Fisher’s Walls of Jericho and Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem.
It was hard, however, for the Ne gro writer to keep his racial and artistic integrity while writing under a white patron. Artistic integrity is always a problem for a writer under the influence of a literary patron. In some cases, when the white patron and the Neg ro writer differed, their literary relationship came to an end. In Langston Hughes’ case, with the publication of his poem “Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria,” not only did his literary relationship with his patron cease but their friendship as well. However, many Ne gro writers were not under the influence of patrons.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.08.x.html -------------------------The white literary establishment soon became fascinated with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance and began publishing them in larger numbers. But for the writers themselves, acceptance by the white world was less important, as Langston Hughes put it, than the "expression of our individual dark-skinned selves." http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmharlem1.html ----- The Harlem Renaissance was successful in that it brought the Black experience clearly within the corpus of American cultural history. Not only through an explosion of culture, but on a sociological level, the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance is that it redefined how America, and the world, viewed the African-American population. The migration of southern Blacks to the north changed the image of the African-American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication. This new identity led to a greater social consciousness, and African-Americans became players on the world stage, expanding intellectual and social contacts internationally.
The progress—both symbolic and real—during this period, became a point of reference from which the African-American community gained a spirit of self-determination that provided a growing sense of both Black urbanity and Black militancy as well as a foundation for the community to build upon for the Civil Rights struggles in the 1950s and 1960s.The urban setting of rapidly developing Harlem provided a venue for African-Americans of all backgrounds to appreciate the variety of Black life and culture. Through this expression, the Harlem Renaissance encouraged the new appreciation of folk roots and culture. For instance, folk materials and spirituals provided a rich source for the artistic and intellectual imagination and it freed the Blacks from the establishment of past condition. Through sharing in these cultural experiences, a consciousness sprung forth in the form of a united racial identity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance#Impact_of_the_Harlem_Renaissance
 |
 Renaissance Medieval Lady Isabella Wedding Gown $250.00 Time Remaining: 23h 4m Buy It Now for only: $250.00 |
 Renaissance Medieval Lady Isabella Wedding Veil $75.00 Time Remaining: 23h 5m Buy It Now for only: $75.00 |
 Renaissance Wedding Gown Veil $195.00 Time Remaining: 3d 20m Buy It Now for only: $195.00 |
 NWT WHiTE LACE GoTHiC RENAiSSANCE FULL SKiRT BaLL GoWN PRoM DRESS S M $9.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 4d 12h 16m |
 WHITE SATIN GOLD LACE FORMAL WEDDING DRESS RENAISSANCE INSPIRED SIZE 6 $99.00 Time Remaining: 6d 8h 57m Buy It Now for only: $99.00 |
 Davids Bridal 111044 Renaissance White Wedding Dress Misses 10 Long Sleeve $100.00 Time Remaining: 6d 9h 17m Buy It Now for only: $150.00 |
 Size 6 Davids Bridal White Strapless Renaissance Wedding Gown w undergarments $450.00 Time Remaining: 6d 10h 6m Buy It Now for only: $450.00 |
 NEW Davids 111044 Renaissance White Wedding Dress Bridal Gown 14w Long Sleeve $112.50 Time Remaining: 11d 2h 59m Buy It Now for only: $112.50 |
 Renaissance Medieval Lady Gwyneviere Wedding Gown $250.00 Time Remaining: 12d 20h 57m Buy It Now for only: $250.00 |
 CUSTOM RENAISSANCE WEDDING BRIDAL GOWN DRESS YOUR SIZE $235.00 Time Remaining: 13d 16h 46m Buy It Now for only: $235.00 |
 NEW Bonny Modest Renaissance wedding dress bridal gown $251.10 Time Remaining: 27d 10h 22m Buy It Now for only: $251.10 |
 Custom Medieval Renaissance WEDDING DRESS White IVORY $624.99 Time Remaining: 28d 12h 59m Buy It Now for only: $624.99 |
 Medieval Renaissance Velvet Fantasy Bridal Wedding Gown Dress Medium Ready $185.00 Time Remaining: 28d 20h 44m Buy It Now for only: $185.00 |