Misconceptions of the Harlem Renaissance

A misconception is: ‘A mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding ("misconception")’ and it is quite likely that every person on the planet is guilty of believing at least one. I grew up in a small town where in order to fit in you needed to be Catholic and/or Italian. Being neither, I never felt like I did fit in; I was a crowd unto myself. There was a boy two or three years ahead of me in school who, I believed, was just your ordinary, stuck-up Italian jock and who, like most everyone else, never spoke to me (which I actually encouraged by speaking as little as possible). As it turns out, he was not your ordinary, stuck-up Italian jock. Indeed, he has a very Italian name, but he was adopted when he was five by a very Italian family. He actually is a member of the Karuk Indian tribe and was not stuck-up; he was struggling with the drugs and alcohol that it took him years to finally overcome. Now, he is able to visit middle and high schools where he talks to youth who may have similar struggles. It shames me that I ever thought what I did about him. Even though it is widely held even today that the slavery 'problem' is one perpetrated by whites and there are those who even now argue repatriation, there are many misconceptions about slavery, racism and Africa that should be corrected because slavery has been in existence for millennia and slave traders through the years have come in all shapes and sizes (and colors). I would like to discuss three specific misconceptions held not only by those who lived during and participated in the Harlem Renaissance, but those alive today. First, the idea that Africa is a ‘Garden of Eden,’ second the idea of repatriation, and third, the whole idea of slavery and racism.

To begin, we must visit the account of the Creation and subsequent fall of man in Genesis. The story tells us that the world and everything in it was created in a period of six days and on the seventh, God rested. Adam and Eve were the first humans and they were created on the sixth day. They were commanded not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but temptation entered in and Eve not only partook, she convinced Adam to do likewise. Because of this act, they were forced to leave the Garden of Eden. In chapter 2, we learn that there was a river that went out of Eden and that it was divided into the four rivers, Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. Important to note is the fact that Gihon encompassed the land of Ethiopia (The Holy Bible 1-6).

There has long been a belief that the biblical Garden of Eden was somewhere in the Middle East or Africa. This is partly due to the fact that on the African continent is a country called Ethiopia and that there is a Euphrates River in the Middle East. Some have argued that this must be the case because there are several groups in Africa who have similar Creation and fall stories. The Chagga people of Tanzania, the Bambuti of Congo, the Meru of Kenya, and the Shilluk of Sudan all have stories in which people are created by God and either eat forbidden food or food of God which makes them sick. Because the Hebrews could have, and probably did, know of these stories, it is surmised that they adopted them for their own use (Adamo).

However, other peoples the world over have creation stories. There are numerous Native American stories of the creation including the Lakota people that the Great Spirit created our ancestors and they were tricked into going out onto the surface as they had been living in the Underworld (Parkinson).  The Mein Tribe of Laos believe that the sky and earth were made by a brother and sister who embroidered cloth (Carger and Locke). From Australia comes a story of a Sun Mother who creates the Morning Star and Moon (son and daughter) who give birth to twins who are the first man and woman on the earth (Manczuk). There are those who believe the Garden was in South America (Adamo) and those who believe it was in North America (The Holy Bible 659).

A more compelling argument that the first men originated in Africa than mere stories is that the DNA of all peoples of the world point back to a single maternal ancestor in Africa 200,000 years ago (Adamo) but this does not account for the rivers. It is interesting to note that with our increased technology and ability to traverse the space around the earth, telescopes have been able to picture under the surface of the planet in southern Egypt a river system of size and complexity comparable to the Nile (Adamo). Does this prove anything? Only that we have technology with which to make more and better discoveries about more and more aspects of life on earth.

Therefore, although the evidence does seem to point to a single maternal ancestor originating in Africa, this would be an evolutionary belief and not necessarily one held by those who believe in creationism. For those who believe in the Creation, there really is no substantial ‘proof’ of where the Garden of Eden may have been located.

Changing gears just a bit, we will define repatriate and, in conjunction with it, discuss the origins of people on the American continents. The purpose will become clear later when we tie it into the Harlem Renaissance. Repatriate: ‘To restore or return to the country of birth, citizenship, or origin; one who has been repatriated ("repatriate").’ In order to be repatriated, there must be a country of origin. It is very interesting that the Seneca tribe of Native Americans recognize that there were people here before the people they identify as their ancestors (Hansen). It appears that the best documented residents of the Americas are what are known as the Clovis people between 12,900 and 12,550 years ago. Points of their make have been found across the North American continent and it is thought that Clovis artifacts are too common, too universal, and too tailored for them to be the first people here (Toner).

Now, however, it appears that the Clovis were not the first. There have been stone tools, without Clovis points, discovered in Monte Verde in Chile dating from 14,400 to 16,000 years ago. Along the Savannah River in South Carolina, artifacts have been found at several levels. One level has artifacts between 17,000 and 21,000 years old. Even farther down is a “hearthlike feature” with charcoal dated at about 50,000 years (Toner). Similar finds have been made in Oregon and Texas (Pringle).

How did these people get there? It was originally thought that Native American ancestors travelled via a bridge between present day Siberia and Alaska. Although no evidence of boats has been found, it is known that at least 45,000 years ago humans made the journey from Asia to Australia via the islands between them and the water surrounding them all. Close to 12,000 years ago 10 kilometers of water was crossed by boatmen to Santa Rosa Island off the coast of California. It certainly would have been quicker and easier to travel via water down the west coast than by foot through the center of the continent (Pringle).

Now, we will discuss slavery and racism. In the United States, we have this idea of political correctness which is defined as ‘1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. 2. Being or perceived as being overconcerned with such change, often to the exclusion of other matters ("politically correct.").’ In some respects, this idea is a good one but in many, it is certainly ‘overconcerned’ and it seems that this is what keeps us from being taught the true nature of slavery and the slave trade and helps keep racism alive and well.

In most public schools throughout the nation, the Triangle Trade is still the curriculum of the day (Aronson). The Triangle Trade should bring to mind the trade of sugar and of humans connecting Great Britain with Africa and the Caribbean (Spence) and the Americas. While it is true that these are all connected in the trade of slaves, the ‘triangle’ is actually spherical and spans the globe (Aronson). While it is an awful truth that the United States allowed slavery to exist within its borders and that because of it, for almost two and a half centuries, most of black people within those borders were considered ‘chattel property’ (Stern), and that we still today have issues regarding racism and prejudice, it is also true that slavery has existed in world history long before slaves began being imported to the Americas and Caribbean. This history of slavery, dating back to the earliest civilizations, proves that no one was exempt from either participation or profit: ‘whites and blacks; Christians, Muslims, and Jews; Europeans, Africans, Americans, and Latin Americans’ (Stern).

The Bible tells us that Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He ended up in Egypt and because he was there, his family was able to escape the famine that ravished the land where they were. After approximately 450 years, when we read about Moses, the Israelites were no longer honored members of Joseph’s family but had been enslaved. A whole people (The Holy Bible 58,70, 80).The Islamic slave trade has existed since at least the 8^th century and ‘millions of Africans’ were seized for sale to ‘Egypt, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the Ottoman Empire’ (Stern). It might be pointed out that this occurred before any European (think white person) set foot south of the Sahara (White).

It may be true that a few Africans were actually captured by white slave traders; after all, English sailors gave little thought to kidnapping a Dutch boy from a beach in 1740. He was sold in Maryland and ended up in Ontario (White). Just as white English sailors had no problem kidnapping a white Dutch boy, neither did black Africans have a problem capturing other black Africans to sell to the slave traders who met them on the coast to do their business. In fact, many of the Africans who were forcibly taken to the Western Hemisphere had been enslaved long before they left Africa; of the approximately 20 million slaves captured during the height of European involvement between 1600 and 1850, estimations are that approximately 10 million, that is half, did not make it to the coastal ‘factories’ where they were held until sale to the white slavers. They died, still chained, yoked, and shackled to their fellow captives, before they ever saw a white slave trader (Stern).

It is a little known fact that freed slaves actually saw nothing wrong with owning slaves, as many as 63 in one noteworthy case (White). It is possible that Captain Paul Cuffe, a black New England sea captain and son of a former slave, was a slave trader. Even if he wasn’t he had many friends, black and white, who were. Mrs. Betsy Walker, a freed slave, returned to Africa where she became one of the most successful traders of slaves in the early 1800s. Women actually controlled a substantial part of the slave market along the West African coast. In many ways, this is not surprising because in traditional West African societies, the men were the farmers and the women were the traders (Brooks).

Many blacks struggled with their heritage; especially those considered mulatto, having both black and white ancestry. In Nella Larsen’s novel ‘Quicksand,’ the main character, Helga Crane, wrestled with the fact that her mother was white while her father was black (Larsen). Why was this such a stigma for her? Perhaps because racism exists. It seems to be popularly believed that racism is something that blacks experience at the hands of whites. In fact, racism is ‘1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others. 2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race (“racism”).’ This may be true at times but certainly not always. Helga, for example, was counseled not to tell Anne of her white mother (Larsen). Why? Because Anne hated whites? Perhaps Anne was not alone in her hatred. Perhaps because racism rears its ugly head and manifests itself in many different forms.

Historically, racism is not a phenomena belonging exclusively to blacks and whites or even to groups of different skin color. Hitler’s extermination of the Jews is a blatant example. When my family lived in New Mexico, two of my little girls were the only white children in an elementary school of Navajo, Apache, and one little black boy (what a bunch of cute kids!). My little girls experienced what we would call ‘reverse’ prejudice and it was not pretty. Consider the following: ‘Two decades ago, a Fulani college student said Zaire’s whites deserved the massacres inflicted upon them because they were white and hence racist. A listening British anthropologist asked him if he would marry a Dowayo, referring to a pagan people that Fulani had long deemed fit only to be slaves. The student looked at him as if he were insane. As a Fulani himself, he could not marry a Dowayo, he pointed out. They were dongs, mere animals. But what had that to do with racism (White)?’Racism would appear to be a problem for many people and certainly seemed to be one for those who lived and participated in the Harlem Renaissance.

One way to deal with racism was to run away from it. The widely accepted idea that the Garden of Eden was located in Africa has much to do with Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa movement as well as the fact that his ancestors came from that continent. Marcus Garvey is looked upon as a prophet by the Rastafari religion of Pan-America. They believe that he prophesied that they should look to Africa, specifically Ethiopia, for the crowning of their King, or savior. While nothing in his writings has been discovered to this effect, he did write a play which was entitled The king and queen of Africa in which the closing scene is that of a coronation (Chevannes). Be this as it may, it is well known that Garvey promoted the Back to Africa movement and may have had some success had his business partners been less than ethical. His efforts were not unprecedented.

In 1820, the first group of free blacks was aboard an American Colonization Society (ACS) sponsored voyage to Liberia. This new nation was ceded for the repatriation of free blacks. It was administered by the ACS until it gained independence in 1847 ("AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY."). After this, it wasn’t until 1914 that another such attempt was made. Chief Alfred Charles Sam began the African Movement in that year. He was a successful businessman and raised money with which to buy a ship which was to take blacks to West Africa. Progress was hindered by criminal charges which did not stick and the British government discouraged black Americans from joining this movement. Nevertheless, in August of 1914, the ship left Galveston, Texas, and arrived in Bathurst in December. The voyage was not entirely successful due to British colonial authorities making it as difficult as possible for the people to even leave the ship. Eventually, in June of the following year, most of the immigrants returned to the United States; a few of them had died and a few remained in Africa (Ray).

Marcus Garvey, Jr., in a 1998 interview, hoped that African Americans would gain a renewed interest in his father’s work (Mason). Garvey’s dream was to create a Utopian African nation to which all blacks the world over could be repatriated and take their place as a major world influence. Repatriation also included Europeans returning to Europe (Chevannes). In light of the fact that all the people of the world originated in Africa, the idea of repatriation is rather interesting. Whom should be repatriated where, exactly?

The literature of the Harlem Renaissance is . . . interesting, enlightening, worth reading and exploring. It gives us an idea of the image these writers, and most likely others, had of Africa at the time. For better or worse, these writers placed Africa at the heart of their cultural landscape and thus at the heart of the cultural landscape of all African Americans. There it has remained. Although some of the Harlem Renaissance writers, Langston Hughes, for example, traveled to Africa, many did not (Harris). Even Marcus Garvey, who wanted to move all black people to Africa, never set foot on the continent (Bair). Because most of those who were writing during the Harlem Renaissance never experienced Africa, their writing is based on romanticized ideas of it or what they heard or read. Even Hughes, who did not have the best experiences there, continued to write of Africa as an abstract ideal rather than a reality (Harris). Take, for example, Hughes poem ‘Dream Variation’(Lewis 226) which talks about dancing in the sun until the day is gone and resting under a tree in the evening. He uses words and phrases that indicate a somewhat idyllic place such as ‘night comes gently,’ ‘pale evening,’ and ‘dark like me.’

Countee Cullen’s poem ‘Heritage’ (Lewis 224), talks of a dream like place where there is ‘Copper sun or scarlet sea,/Jungle star or jungle track.’ There is a conflict here between the ‘bronzed men’ and ‘regal black women’ and general wildness of Africa and the Christian West.

Gwendolyn Bennett’s poem ‘To a Dark Girl’ (Miller) speaks of love for ‘brownness’ and ‘rounded darkness.’ It evokes thoughts of ‘old forgotten queens’ and keeping qualities of ‘queenliness’. The girl who has these qualities was once a slave but perhaps her African ancestors were queens. Her poem ‘Heritage’(Bennett) has dream-like qualities. This narrator speaks of wanting to see and hear and breathe and feel different things from her African homeland. The whole poem has a lulling ebb and flow feel to it that contributes to the longing of the dream.

Most blacks, who wrote of Africa, wrote similarly. Africa was their homeland. Africa is where the Garden of Eden had been and where civilization had its beginning. Surely a life in Africa, among people they imagined were like themselves, would be better than the hard life experienced in the United States where prejudice and racism abounded.

That these people, who dreamed of an idyllic Africa, did not know everything there was to know about Africa, is reasonable. Knowledge was available but not as readily accessible as it is in today’s digital climate. Furthermore, people often write of a place or time that may be based in reality but is surrounded by myth or fantasy. The purpose of doing this may be to escape the harsh realities of life or to create a place removed from everyday life. Certainly life for these writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and indeed most of the residents of Harlem, was not easy.

Today it is easy to find information. If it cannot be found online, the books or locations where it might be obtained can be found online. That there were misconceptions in the past is understandable. With our increased understanding of the physical world in which we live and the relative ease of learning more about our collective history, past misconceptions should be a thing of the past.

That there continue to be misconceptions in spite of all we now know stands to reason given our love of political correctness but when there are Africans from Ghana, Benin, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast acknowledging that Africans were abducted, captured, and kidnapped by fellow Africans for the specific purpose of being sold into slavery, urging Europeans, Americans, and Africans to acknowledge the part they played and to publicly teach about it, and making statements such as ‘We too are blameworthy in what was essentially one of the most heinous crimes in human history (Stern)’ it is almost shameful that we have Americans of African descent who say, apparently without truly knowing history, ‘It is not we who kidnapped, raped, and ravished a people’ (Hill 3).

 

Works Cited:

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