The devastation and bloodshed of World War I had caused some people to turn away from their old values and seek meaning—and also entertainment—in different ways and places than they ever had before. One of these places was Harlem, the center of the vibrant African American culture that had begun to fascinate many whites from other parts of New York City as well as other American and European cities. The old stereotypes about black people still existed, but now people of color were being viewed in a positive light. Before, African Americans had been stereotyped as having loose sexual mores and violent, animalistic natures; in the 1920s, they were viewed as delightfully natural and uninhibited, freed from the restrictions that kept white people in line. (Meanwhile, of course, blacks were still subject to widespread racism and discrimination, and the majority of the African American population still lived in poverty.)
"Harlemania" Takes Off
The cultural blossoming that took place during the Harlem Renaissance happened partly because of the new interest that white intellectuals, publishers, and patrons of the arts were taking in African American culture. But their interest, and that of many other more ordinary white people, extended even further: it reached into Harlem itself.
