The documentary The African Americans Many Rivers to Cross tells that nearly 1.6 million African Americans migrated north into the booming economy of places such as Harlem that was predominately white. That is, until 1910 when African Americans quickly outnumbered the white population in 1980 and actually made up more than 90 percent of the city’s population. Zora Neale Hurston’s writing is both a reflection of and a departure from the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance as represented in Janie’s self-discovery, self-acceptance and changing independence in rural black communities within Florida during the 1920s and 30s. Mrs. Turner in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel reflects the general relationship between black and white people during the Harlem
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Nanny, Janie’s grandma, is accused of carrying the slave house owner’s baby because Nanny’s baby looked white which was only possible if the father were to be white, like the slave house owner. The slave house master’s wife threatens to give her “one hundred lashes wid a raw-hide on yo’ bare back. Ah’ll have you whipped till de blood run down to yo’ heels!” (18) which was sadly very common to see in the slave houses across the nation. In the Springboard textbook, a book review explains that “Janie did not get sweetness when her Grandma married her to Mister Killicks” (Springboard 406) which could be the Grandma’s way of trying to keep Janie away from slave houses that she used to get involved with when she was younger. This brief description of Janie’s grandmother living in a slave house and the book review depict the general influence that slavery had on African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance in the eyes of Zora Neale Hurston. She accurately shows how awfully African American people were treated in these slave houses, especially African American women who were sadly often raped by the owners of the houses like Nanny was in the
Nanny, Janie’s grandma, is accused of carrying the slave house owner’s baby because Nanny’s baby looked white which was only possible if the father were to be white, like the slave house owner. The slave house master’s wife threatens to give her “one hundred lashes wid a raw-hide on yo’ bare back. Ah’ll have you whipped till de blood run down to yo’ heels!” (18) which was sadly very common to see in the slave houses across the nation. In the Springboard textbook, a book review explains that “Janie did not get sweetness when her Grandma married her to Mister Killicks” (Springboard 406) which could be the Grandma’s way of trying to keep Janie away from slave houses that she used to get involved with when she was younger. This brief description of Janie’s grandmother living in a slave house and the book review depict the general influence that slavery had on African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance in the eyes of Zora Neale Hurston. She accurately shows how awfully African American people were treated in these slave houses, especially African American women who were sadly often raped by the owners of the houses like Nanny was in the