The Harlem Renaissance was a defining movement that shaped the lives of many African Americans, during that time period, and now. Taking place in the 1920s through the 1930s, the Harlem Renaissance laid the groundwork for African American art, literature, and society, shaping how it would be viewed by whites and blacks alike, as well as establishing a new culture for black society.
Literature during the Harlem Renaissance primarily focused on the accurate portrayal of black life. It was also used in order to depict the beauty that African American culture and society held.
The movement influenced and inspired many future black writers and artists, which in turn allowed for the black society to be more accepting of their own culture, instead …show more content…
According to Richard Wright, an African American writer at the time, literature from the Harlem Renaissance “became the voice of the educated Negro pleading with white America for justice” (Source F). Though at first unintentional, the Harlem Renaissance was meant to show the dissatisfaction that blacks were feeling because of inequality, and in turn advance their community towards full citizenship. Zora Neale Hurston portrays this inequality in her novel, the day after the hurricane hits the town that Janie and Tea Cake are in. Hurston shows a white man ordering around a group of black men, telling them what to do with the dead bodies. The white man warns the black group, saying, “‘don’t lemme ketch none uh y’all dumpin’ white folks, and don’t be wastin’ no boxes on colored’” (Hurston 171). The black people who had died in the hurricane were being denied caskets to be buried in, while every white death was granted one, because the blacks were considered inferior to the white population. By portraying an event where discrimination takes place, Hurston is proving to the American government that something needs to be done about the civil rights inequality of
Literature during the Harlem Renaissance primarily focused on the accurate portrayal of black life. It was also used in order to depict the beauty that African American culture and society held.
The movement influenced and inspired many future black writers and artists, which in turn allowed for the black society to be more accepting of their own culture, instead …show more content…
According to Richard Wright, an African American writer at the time, literature from the Harlem Renaissance “became the voice of the educated Negro pleading with white America for justice” (Source F). Though at first unintentional, the Harlem Renaissance was meant to show the dissatisfaction that blacks were feeling because of inequality, and in turn advance their community towards full citizenship. Zora Neale Hurston portrays this inequality in her novel, the day after the hurricane hits the town that Janie and Tea Cake are in. Hurston shows a white man ordering around a group of black men, telling them what to do with the dead bodies. The white man warns the black group, saying, “‘don’t lemme ketch none uh y’all dumpin’ white folks, and don’t be wastin’ no boxes on colored’” (Hurston 171). The black people who had died in the hurricane were being denied caskets to be buried in, while every white death was granted one, because the blacks were considered inferior to the white population. By portraying an event where discrimination takes place, Hurston is proving to the American government that something needs to be done about the civil rights inequality of