Baldwin’s interpretation of the New Negro has a fundamental difference with that of Alain Locke’s interpretation of the New Negro.
Although both authors share similar notions that a New Negro identity has been formed in the turn of the 20th century, they differ in their approach to how this identity is constructed. (Or what led to production of this identity)
Alain Lock points to “race literature” and “race journalism” as inner Negro documentation of self, which were instruments for the mainstream development of the New Negro identity that developed in America. He believes that the literary movement through progressive race periodicals as the Crisis under editorship of Dr. Du Bois and Charles Johnson were able to ignite the racial awakening and this New Negro race sprit.
Well in fact, this point of reference to answer the “how” is a major difference in ideas for both Lock and Baldwin. Baldwin believes it was the Black entrepreneurs such as Jack Johnson, Madam C.J. Walker and other business shaped the new race identity.
Baldwin suggests that economical power enabled for the emergence of the middle Black America. This allowed for black business to have a direct black market that they can influence and which also sustain them even during the time of the depression. The access to Black markets in south side Chicago, was most influential in producing that new race spirit.
These opposing views have strong ties to the conflicting race ideologies of Booker T. Washington and Dr. Du Bois. Baldwin could been seen supporting the argument of Booker T Washigton that believes only through economical gain and self sustaining will the Black race uplift. On the other hand Locke has asserted that Dr. Du Bois intellectual and race journalism would be the most effective tool to help the Black race.
One very distinct difference between the two books is the race relations of migrants in Harlem and Chicago. Although both authors argue Harlem and Chicago served as the new mecca for southern immigrants, Locke provides that Harlem will not be susceptible to race friction between the races in New York. This is because little or no gang labor gave Harlem Negros the opportunity for individual expansion and individual contacts with life and spirits of New York (p 310).
However, the principal factors in the race riots in Chicago 1919 were the fact that there was 12,000 Negroes were employed in gangs in the stockyards. This created a division between the residency of Blacks and Whites build animosity toward each other. Although there were considerable race feelings towards black in Harlem, he argues that it was only feeling and no more (p 310).
I think it’s thoughtful to include the part about the different authors being somewhat similar to the ideological conflicts between W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T Washington in your post. While I do not believe the similarities are entirely salient, I do believe that there is something to be said about Locke focusing on a group of artists as representative of the New Negro spirit, almost analogous to the “Talented Tenth” notion Du Bois posited before him. He puts the weight of the New Negro identity on elite artists, as opposed to Baldwin who makes a point to argue the opposite, that it was actually the actions of everyday people that truly made the New Negro possible. Locke’s focus on a group of artists does bear some resemblance to Du Bois’ insistence that the elite be the defenders of the race, championing their culture and refuting negative and racist attacks on its character and people.
ReplyDeleteI do not quite agree that Baldwin is so easily comparable to Washington, if only because the New Negro mentality in its essence does not seem to be completely in line with Washington’s vocalized tenets. Surely, a man such as Washington would not find so much virtue in the antics and bluster of Jack Johnson, a figure who flouted all attempts at peaceably wooing White people or guarding the boundaries of racial mixing. Baldwin’s use of a figure like Jack Johnson as not only a New Negro, but also perhaps the first New Negro, I think, makes a comparison to Washington more difficult. But, it is relevant that his arguments were centered on Blacks creating an economic base for themselves within their own communities, utilizing each other as an opportunity to make money and find some measure of success despite segregation and the many indignities racial oppression foisted upon them. Moreover, his use of a figure like Madame C.J. Walker is probably much more in agreement with Washington’s general principles, since she is a businesswoman who found success by marketing to a Black clientele, though this may have been the full extent of her collusion with Washington.