Voices from the Harlem Renaissance Chapter Summary & Analysis - Reflections on the Renaissance Summary

Reflections on the Renaissance Summary

In "The Big Sea," author Langston Hughes talks about the role of Negroes in literature, music, and culture. He notes that Harlem in the 1920s was truly a place where the Negro performers were in demand by their own race, but that whites were beginning to take notice as well. Hughes points out that the Cotton Club was not for the common people and that it catered only to whites and influential or well-known Negroes, eliminating a great number of people. Other clubs were popular with the common people, and sometimes the influx of whites changed the shows to the point that the Negroes lost interest. As an example, Hughes points out a particular trend toward acrobatics that would have never occurred except that the performers were seeking to amuse the white patrons. Schuyler says that sometimes owners of clubs barred Negroes in favor of the white patrons, but the...
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