Question

The Harlem Renaissance dawned in an era of pervasive racism and segregation. Although legally "free," many African Americans were still bound by ideas that had their roots in the slavery of earlier centuries.

Identity and freedom are important ideas presented in many of the poems from the Harlem Renaissance. What image of freedom have you found most powerful in the poems you have read in this unit so far?

The values of identity and freedom are not unique to particular times and places. As Hughes expresses in "Dream Variations," all humans want to be able to develop their identities in freedom. What is required of a society to enable each individual to be true to his or her identity and be free to live by that identity?

Answer 1

A powerful image of freedom in the poems of the Harlem Renaissance is the identification and empowerment of black culture. Within this context, we can say that for an individual to be faithful to their identity, society requires that this individual follow characteristic patterns of that identity.

How does the Harlem Renaissance approach this?

• The Harlem Renaissance valued culture and gave the black population the opportunity to identify with their origins, which were devalued throughout society.
• This empowered black culture promoted the identification and rejection of European standards that valued a different culture.
• However, even within this freedom, black people were pressured to follow a specific identity pattern, in order to express their freedom of identity.

This shows that even within a process of empowerment, the black community was pressured to follow standards, in addition to being judged by the choice they made.

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