Harlem

“Harlem” draws on the long history of social inequality endured by African Americans. Institutional slavery, Jim Crow segregation laws and discriminatory redlining practices, all contribute to the frustrations the poem expresses.

During the first half of the 20th century, racist Jim Crow statutes legalized the denial of rights and freedoms to African Americans, enforcing the segregation of schools, hospitals, prisons, public transportation, and more across the South. Things were only somewhat better in the North: For instance, New York’s election laws required “blacks—and only blacks—to own real property in order to qualify to vote” (Wood, et al. “Jim Crow in New York.” 2010. Brennan Center for Justice). The seeds of dissent were there when “Harlem” was composed: In 1948, President Harry Truman attempted to get Congress to abolish sections of Jim Crow and integrated the armed forces, and “In 1950, the NAACP decided to challenge the concept of ‘separate but equal’” (“A Brief History of Jim Crow.” Constitutional Rights Foundation).

The Harlem riots of 1935 and 1943 are another important piece of historical context for Hughes’s poem. Both incidents were sparked by run-ins with the police, but the underlying causes were overcrowding, high rents, lack of resources, and racism. In 1935, rumors that a shoplifting teen had been shot by police erupted in violence. In the 1943 riot, a white policeman shot a Black soldier while attempting to arrest a Black woman for disorderly conduct. Rumors that the soldier was killed set off a wave of violence resulting in nearly 500 injuries and an equal number of arrests, six deaths, and around five million dollars in property damage (“Harlem Race Riot of 1943.” 2021. Encyclopedia Britannica).

When the speaker in the poem considers what happens to dreams that never come to fruition, the possibilities are fueled by knowledge and experience: Hughes knew firsthand that ignored dreams had exploded before and could do so again.