Harlem Rhapsody

As literary editor of a magazine by and for Black people in the 1920s, Jessie is acutely aware of the racism facing African Americans at all levels of society in her era. This racism takes many forms, from systemic workplace and housing discrimination to outright racist violence. At two points in the novel, Jessie learns of white supremacist massacres occurring in other parts of the country: first, the attack on Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood neighborhood—known as the “Black Wall Street”—on May 31 and June 1, 1921, and then a similar coordinated attack on Black citizens and Black-owned property in Rosewood, Florida, on January 8, 1923. These horrific events, each of which claim many innocent lives, underscore the profound impact of racism in America in the early 20th century. For Jessie, they drive home the importance of her work, reminding her that art can serve as a powerful means of resistance.

Will draws the opposite lesson from these and other instances of racist violence. Late in the novel, he tells Jessie, “While I believe in publishing writers, I wonder if we need to expend further energy on the literary side when [Black] men are lynched each week, when [Black] children are denied educational opportunities and Negro college graduates are still only hired as bellmen or waiters” (332). This argument details some of the ways that Black people are marginalized: physically, professionally, and academically. Faced with so much concrete harm, Will begins to question the value of art. In this way, he becomes a foil to Jessie: While Jessie insists that art, with its focus on the subjective aspects of human experience, is a vital means of standing up to racism, Will comes to see it as a distraction from more direct and concrete forms of activism.

Sadie and Jessie articulate the financial oppression that Black people have to endure in addition to the constant threat of violence. Sadie struggles to find a job despite having a PhD in economics. She points out that “people say education is the great equalizer. [She] disagree[s]” (179). Will is strongly in favor of overcoming adversity through education, but even he can see that getting an education does not guarantee that a Black person will improve their quality of life in terms of employment. Jessie says, “[E]ducation has yet to provide equality” (180), and describes how she struggled to find a job. At the end of the novel, she is willing to take an entry-level position as a proofreader, even though she was a successful editor for several years, because she doesn’t think that white companies will hire Black women for such high positions, even if they are (over)qualified.

Black women also feel isolated from the movement for women’s suffrage in the late 1910s and early 1920s. While she is excited that women have won the vote, Nella is dubious. She says, “[I]t will be another law that excludes our participation” (114). Her reasoning is that she has seen white women tear down and exclude Black women and even other white women. She doubts that there will be a “united front of women” (115). This claim is supported by historical realities. For example, no Black women were invited to speak at or even attend the famed 1848 Seneca Falls Convention that marked the beginning of the women’s rights movement. In the 1970s and 1980s, activists who focused on Black feminism and womanism would more fully articulate the overlap between racist and sexist oppression. Jessie is aware of this complex reality. 

Overall, Harlem Rhapsody is structured around the creation of art and the oppression faced by Black artists, especially writers. One example of this is the lack of funding for The Brownies’ Book. Charlotte mentions that money is a barrier for many Black people, and this extends into Black businesses. Despite its popularity with readers, there aren’t grants for such a publication, and it can’t be sustained by subscriptions alone, given the economic oppression experienced by Black people (the magazine’s primary audience). Jessie is determined not only to publish the work of other writers to combat racism but also to have her own work published. She wants “the world to know that There is Confusion was written by a Negro woman” (306). In other words, she wants to show readers that educated Black people exist and have the same emotional capacity as their white counterparts.