Alain Locke: “Enter the New Negro”

Impact

It is difficult to trace the immediate impact of a single article or book announcing the views of a movement such as the Harlem Renaissance. “Enter the New Negro” was part of a welter of books and articles examining the issue of race before, during, and after the 1920s. The climate for these publications was ripe. The nation had put aside the hardships and privations of World War I. In 1919 women were granted the right to vote, bringing the issue of civil rights to the national consciousness. But that year, too, numerous race riots plagued American cities; in some instances, Blacks were attacked or lynched while still wearing their military uniforms. At the same time, the Progressive movement was still making its influence felt. Trade unionism, for example, was gaining more traction at a time when American workers were competing for jobs and there was considerable labor unrest. The 1920s, often called the Roaring Twenties, was a time of growing prosperity and seemingly endless possibilities. In this climate of growing freedom, of the casting off of old traditions and old ways of thinking, African American writers were determined to find a place in American culture and society. Writers such as Alain Locke were showing them how, and why. His work helped launch the careers of writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, whose short story “Spunk” appeared in the anthology.

In a sense, Locke’s work lit a fire under other African American writers. Fire!! was a Black literary magazine launched in 1926 by a group of African American writers who defiantly called themselves the Niggerati (a play on the word literati): Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, Aaron Douglas, John P. Davis, Richard Bruce Nugent, Gwendolyn Bennett, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes. Hughes explained the title by saying that it conveyed the desire to burn up old, conventional ideas and showcase the talent of younger writers. The magazine, which its founders said was inspired by Locke’s work, lasted for only a single issue, and critical reaction to it exemplified differing views about the role of African American literature. While some critics applauded the magazine for its unique perspective, others, particularly some members of the Black intelligentsia (Du Bois’s “Talented Tenth”) found some of its topics, such as homosexuality, vulgar and were troubled by what they regarded as the stereotyped use of southern vernacular. Despite differing views about the merits of any particular writer’s work, in the years following the publication of Locke’s essay, a tidal wave of fiction, poetry, and drama flowed from the pens of African American writers. No longer was American literature the sole province of New England’s white middle and upper classes. African American literature was now part of the national cultural landscape.