Question

Write a 500 word essay on:

Compare the characteristics of the Old Negro and the New Negro as detailed in Alain Locke's famous essay. Are you persuaded by his prose that substantial differences between the Old and the New marked a change toward being black at the beginning of the twentieth century?

Answer 1

Enter the New Negro an essay by Alain Locke in the 1920s brought the real metamorphosis not just in the life of African Americans alone but also brought a paradigm shift in the way the white world thought, treated and accepted the Negro people. Ofcourse, the change is not in terms of how Black people perceived themselves but also in the way White people thought about themselves 'the white supremacy'. Alain Locke's essay landed a major blow and made the white people think about the cruelties they unleashed against the black people over a period of time.

Black people were taken by the white people as captives to work in plantations, construction, households and other errands. To speak the truth, this world that we see today is built by the so called slaves around the world.

Making a human being a slave itself means the the one who is enslaving is inhuman and barbarian. Making them suffer while they were at work was the highest barbaric acts that was practised by the so called 'civilised world's. If the world is to be judged by its white supremacy, then the world will become a desert.

Numerous endless suffering of the black community in the hands of white people are recorded and they bring tears even in the eyes of a white person today.

Alain Locke's essay proved that the difference is not in colour but in the way people think and in the opportunity one gets to bring out their talents. He brought out the truth that black community is in no way inferior to anyone else in the world, especially in the fields of Music, songs, poetry and other arts that was considered to be the highest forms one could achieve and required more intelligence.

It's not just the black community but also various other indigenous races that suffered in the hands of the white barbaric acts. Now that they are civilized, the world, especially the black community is at peace and contributes better to the society.

The rise of the black people after 1920s was unstoppable, including getting a black president.