Harlem Renaissance Jad & Moe

What was the Harlem Renaissance? -Took place during the 1920’s to the mid 1300’s. -Was known as a “cultural explosion” for the black community. It was a spread of linguistic, intellectual and artistic work created by the black community. -Also known as the “New Negro Movement” -Artists, musicians, and authors were recognized for their contributions. -Harlem attracted several artists and authors and shortly became the hub of the renaissance.

-It was also a way to try and abolish white stereotypes of blacks and to fight for equality - The Art normally portrayed the African-American culture, traditions, and the hardships they faced in life. -The main music during this time period was Jazz.

Compare and Contrast -Fitzgerald's book portrays and depicts one perspective of the 1920’s, which happens to be the higher end /the white class/wealthy white lifestyle. -On the other hand during this time the rise of black authors and artists depicted a different perspective which was the hardships and the poverty in life that they faced.

The Great Migration -The great migration was when about 6 million African-Americans moved from the southern states of america to the west, midwest, and mainly northeast to the big cities of Chicago, Detroit and New York beginning in 1916. -This created more racial tension and violence between the two ethnicities.

The Great Gatsby and The Renaissance -F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Tom Buchanan as a white bigot and racist towards the black community. “The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be -- will be utterly submerged. It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.” (13) This shows that Tom opposed the influx and the idea of the black community migrating to northern cities as he is bothered by their presence.

Allusions to Harlem Renaissance in the book: “Civilization is going to pieces,” Tom broke out violently. “I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things, have you read the rise of the colored empires by this man goddard?” (p. 12) Automatically, we can see here that fitzgerald incorporated a Harlem Renaissance Allusion within the book. By definition, the Harlem Renaissance was the “rise” of blacks. Especially through Music and Art, as mentioned before, a “cultural explosion.” However, Tom is portraying his point of view of Harlem Renaissance. We already see that Tom has a negative attitude towards this “cultural explosion” by saying “Civilization is going to pieces.” Tom gives the impression that civilization is ending due this rise.

Continued... Another way that this quote can be looked at is through a historical lense. We discussed what the great migration is in the previous slide. Whites became very annoyed with the fact that the blacks were taking over everything such as jobs. In this quote, it seems like Tom was a part of those few whites who were angered over this migration. Furthermore, This quote portrays Tom's character and helps us, as readers, notice his character development.

Thank you