How did that happen? It's hard to say, but Hughes thought it had a lot to do with social climbing:Īt every Harlem upper-crust dance or party, one would be introduced to various distinguished white celebrities there as guests. But it ended up being the exact opposite: a cultural movement by and about white people who were interested in black people, culture, and lifestyles. The 'New Negro' was supposed to be a cultural movement led by and focused entirely on black Americans in the early 20th Century. If you were expecting Hughes to be all nostalgic about the 'New Negro' in his autobiographical account, then he's about to set you straight. In fact, some of the writers and actors of the Harlem Renaissance were, themselves, white. It was more about currying favor with white people than it was about the political and artistic advancement of African Americans. Hughes is all about telling it like it was for the 'New Negro' during the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance. It was the period (God help us!) when Ethel Barrymore appeared in blackface in Scarlet Sister Mary! It was the period when the Negro was in vogue.' Or: 'As I said to George-,' referring to George Gershwin It was a period when white writers wrote about Negroes more successfully (commercially speaking) than Negroes did about themselves. It was a period when almost any Harlem Negro of any social importance at all would be likely to say casually: 'As I was remarking to Heywood-,' meaning Heywood Broun.

It was a period when, at every Harlem upper-crust dance or party, one would be introduced to various distinguished white celebrities there as guests.

The Big Sea by Langston Hughes