The Prohibition inside the African-American Community and the American Economy

Every 50 years the American society seemed to change a bit. As we go back in time, in 2000, the liberal society created new images and definitions of what a man and a woman is rather than what a man and a woman should be. This form of life style allowed people to accept new ideas that would create a better society. In 1950, the house-wife and organizational man created the “American Dream,” a dream in which people wanted to hold on to create “perfection,” and the maintainability of status quo of each gender. The American Dream followed a format which was three and a half children, a wife, and a husband. Only men were allowed to work while their spouses would be home maintaining the house and children. In 1900, the patriarchal society created fear, only men have the strength to work and keep a family together. Women never had the same privileges as men, which obscured the minds of others from accepting new ideas of what if. This unfair society created stereotypes that defined a type of person, and because of it, society created images that represented each of them, because men were manipulative and controlling, women feared to speak their minds. This increased the ideologies of patriarchalism, and kept the status of good girl vs. bad girl. If women went against the “rules” they were considered to be promiscuous and dirty. But if they obeyed to everything that a man says, they were considered to be a true woman. However, because men had more freedom, every Friday night they would go out drinking with their co-workers as a reward after working so hard. Most of the times they would drink until they were drunk or until there was no more money left causing terrible nights for their spouses. Men became abusive, and women became submissive.

This alcohol problem was not affecting only women, it was also affecting slaveholders. Men who owned slaves were afraid to give alcohol to Negroes, especially in the South, since they “feared that alcohol cause[d] black people to be crazy.” (PBS) This fear created arguments whether the consumption of alcohol should be illegal or not but since the government “rel[ied] on alcohol taxes” (PBS) they couldn’t do anything about it. However, due to the consistent conflicts, the 18^th amendment came through and put a stop to the consumption and selling of alcohol. Having this ban established nationally, the government believed this would improve the American society, which purpose was to reduce poverty, consumption of alcohol, crime, and death rates. Even though some indicates that the prohibition was a failure, it was a good timing for the African-Americans and the economy. The Prohibition affected positively both Negroes and economy.

With an increase of population from the Great Migration, many African-Americans tried to settle a new life in the cities but due to the frequent denial of good jobs, bank loans, education opportunities, housing, and social treatments, they turned into gambling, prostitutions, robbery and thievery just to get the same priorities. These created gangs and mafias disturbing the unfair economy in the American society. One of the mobsters that helped the African-Americans was Casper Holstein. Holstein was involved in the Harlem illegal lottery during the Harlem Renaissance, who was also responsible for bringing back illegal gambling.

While working on Wall Street Holstein became familiar with the stock market… He donated some of his earnings to humanitarian enterprises. He financed dormitories at Southern black colleges and supplemented the income of a number of Harlem Renaissance artists and supported impoverished Harlem children. (Black Past)

Even though it was illegal to participate in such activities, Holstein did it for the community and to support himself. Also, because Holstein had a good job, gambling became more of a hobby and easy way get money for the people needed. Those African-Americans that did not have access to good jobs relied on the jobs that Holstein offered at clubs and other business enterprises in which later on he becomes "Harlem's favorite hero, because of his wealth, his sporting proclivities and his philanthropies among the people of his race.” (Black Past)

Some African-Americans might have found easy “jobs” and taken advantage of the Prohibition to participate in gangs; however, others took advantage of their talent and found jobs in the music field. Jazz and Blues were the biggest music genres during the Harlem Renaissance that portrayed their past and present lives. Although the Blues was foreign for the Northern African-Americans, this new style caught the attention of others and it was introduced to a bigger public.

"The blues was taken into a new relationship with its folk cultural origins; the blues singer -- at least the women singers of the 1920s -- was no longer an ordinary member of black society singing the songs of working people or playing for local dances. They were set up on stage, watched and listened to from afar, using every trick and stage device to 'present' their songs." (Calliope)

Once the African-Americans saw the opportunities that Harlem provided, Harlem became “the center of a flowering of black culture known as the Harlem Renaissance.” (NYSPI) The Negro culture started to emerge from their submissive position and started to change those ideas that created an African-American. But what also impacted this community was the economy. In the 1920s, the economy during the Prohibition rose illegally, in which the money came from bootleggers, speakeasies, and saloons. Moreover, The city itself during the Prohibition became more popular than ever and people from farms moved to the city.

The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society”… Many Americans were uncomfortable with this new, urban, sometimes racy “mass culture”; in fact, for many–even most–people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a small handful of young people in the nation’s big cities, the 1920s were roaring indeed. (History)

This new “consumer society” during the Prohibition was mainly because of gangs and mafias that provided the “needs” that people wanted. Even though the Prohibition was set in the government, the people instead of following this law, they went against it. “To pass the law in the real world means nothing; to enforce the law means everything.” (Feldman) The reaction from these people was to flaunt their freedom of drinking, demonstrating how a law cannot stop them from doing those things that creates an American. Americans used alcohol as a representation of their manhood, and in order to stop them, the government needs more than a law. However, those that kept the bars and clubs had a password in order to have access to their facilities. With this format, more people drank illegally and the money went to mobsters.

Many mobsters became wealthy during Prohibition, such as Dutch Schultz, Moe Dalitz, Charles “King” Solomon, Abner “Longy” Zwillman, etc. This amount of money did not go for the government because it was illegal. All the money coming from the selling of alcohol went to gangs and mafias; however, because this was doing well it started to create wars among gangs. Competition increased and the need to find other sources to approach the liquor increased as well. Having this competitive mind increased crime rate, which caused Police funding increased by $11.4 Million, arrests for for violations increased by 102%, arrests for drunkenness and disorderly conduct increased by 41%, arrests of drunken drivers increased by 81%, thefts and burglaries increased by 9%, homicides, assault, and battery increased by 13%, number of Federal Convicts increased by 561%, Federal prison population increased by 366%, total of Federal expenditures on penal Institutions increased by 1,000%, (The Great Experiment)

Even though the Prohibition was a failure, it was still beneficial for the people’s economy. The making of illegal alcohol served the people tremendously, and since the Americans were in desperate need of alcohol, the alcohol was sold at a really high price. With this new business, it helped the people to get easy money. This reflects the Blues in which the people, especially the African-Americans, after coming from the South they had nowhere to go or ready to embark this new journey but the fact that they had made it to the North gives the hope of a new life.

Rather than an exhalation of despair or resignation, the spirit of the blues is the spirit of confrontation and transformation, often through an alchemical rendering of pain and humor. To witness the performance of a blues artist observing the formal aspects of the art in confronting a painful life experience – articulating it in improvised statements that achieve immediate and powerful group recognition and negotiating each statement’s just resolution in keeping with the restraints of the tradition – is to experience the healing power of creative expression. (Patterson, 2)

Metaphorically, the life of the African-Americans represented the blues in which they are moving up for a better path in their lives. Going to the North represents their “confrontation and transformation” of their past. Confronting the reality that has been oppressing them for a long time, and once they’re free, they have transformed their skin and put their soul as the cover. Although joining gangs is not the best option, it helped negotiate the landscape and see what is right or wrong for them. The economy also went back and forth reflecting how the Blues could help a bit but it is not fully fixed, which worked as a catharsis; it released some of the struggles but it did not wash everything away.

The Prohibition, for both African-Americans and economy, served as the Blues in which it did not completely affected them. Negroes finding easy “jobs” helped gain easy money; however, because of the war between gangs, African-Americans didn’t have a better life. Instead, their lives in gangs created a dangerous reputation for the society. This might work as a representation of power which people are afraid to oppress them once again. On the other side, the economy was not fully improved but it did work best for some people indicating how the Blues does not always work because it is a matter of how the Blues are expressed. Even though the Prohibition did not alter these two key factors as much as it did to the society, both African-Americans and economy made people realized how important these two are in order to create the American society.

Reference

Gary, Mardee Reagan. The Book of Bourbon. Houghton Mifflin Harcout Publishing Company. 1998. Print

“Harlem.” New York State Psychiatrist Institute. 2011. Web. 26 November 2011.

Harper, Douglas. “Exclusion of Free Blacks.” Slavery in the North. 2003. Web. 26 November 2011.

“Mobsters, Mayhem & Murder.” The Magazine Times. 2009. Web. 26 November 2011.

Nash, Tim. “Organized Crime in the 1920’s.” The Finer Times. 2011. Web. 26 November 2011.

Patterson, Raymond. “A Note on the Blues.” Course Park FIQWS 10027: The Blues Aesthetic. New York. 1982. Print.

Prohibition. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. PBS. 2011

“The Roaring Twenties.” History. 2010. Web. 26 November 2011.

Watson, Elwood. “Casper Holstein (1876-1944).” Black Past. 2007. Web. 26 November 2011.

The Ethos of the Blues

In the essay, “The Ethos of the Blues,” by Larry Neal, the Blues is recognized as sad, mellow, and strong. The idea is to represent an experience that the person has encountered in the past through sentences that can be sung instead of spoken. Most of the time, hidden emotions that cannot be expressed to others verbally can be expressed musically. As Ralph Ellison stated, “I wouldn’t dare to tell, not to tell – but I would sing about them…” (Neal, 57) In other words, sometimes people are too afraid to tell their emotions but because songs are more relatable they are less ashamed to express themselves.

Slavery has had one of the biggest impacts on American society. Many African-Americans encountered slavery, and found a way to express their feelings through lyrics that reflected an image of their lives. Larry Neal expresses in this essay the ideologies that created the Blues through out the century, coming down to a statement of “The ethos of the blues, then, is the musical manifestation of one’s individual, cultural experiences in Afro-American with which members of the black community can identify.” (Neal, 59) In which the Blues serves, psychologically, as a way to help the African-Americans with their identity after loosing their voices for being oppressed by the Americans. This might show the psychoanalytical lens in which the African-American uses the Blues as a symbolic representation of their identity.

…The emphasis in blues songs is on the immediacy of life, the nature of man, and human survival in all of its physical and psychological manifestations. The blues are informed by a social history of mental and physical hardships; they lyrically address themselves to concrete life situations. And if life is perceived to be a battle of the sexes, or a quest for pleasure, that’s just the way it is. The blues singer, acting as ritual poet, merely reflects the horrible and beautiful realities of life. He didn’t make it that way, that’s just the way things are. Hardships can conquer you, or you can conquer them. Therefore, toughness of spirit is an essential aspect of the ethos of the blues. (Neal, 55)

Neal uses a persuasive tone to reflect the only idea that the Blues has that is “the horrible and beautiful realities of life.” Their lyrics work as a “manifestation” of their “psychological” minds, which the African-Americans mirror their souls through a song. No matter what “life situation” they are expressing, “that’s just the way it is.” And the use of persuasive tone is even stronger on the very last sentences where he states, “hardships can conquer you, or you can conquer them. Therefore, toughness of spirit is an essential aspect of the ethos of the blues.” The way Neal connects the two sentences with “therefore” sounds almost like “it is what it is,” reflecting that there is no other way to represent these ideologies of the blues. Also, Neal reveals “an essential aspect” of the Blues which is “toughness.” Neal mentions “toughness” as a way to portray how the Blues works correctly in the songs. Even though people are singing the tragedies that they face in their daily lives, they are still strong because of the hope that the Blues offers that they can “conquer” the “hardships.”

After loosing their voice for so many years, they found something that brought their voices back into their lives. Their identity is one of the main qualities that have created the blues, which gives this sense of hope that keeps people moving forward where tragedies can’t even stop them. These characteristics of the Blues are the elements that make people stronger from falling back to the same hole.

Reference

Neal, Larry. “The Ethos of the Blues” The Black Scholar. FIQWS Course Pack, 53-59. n.p., 1972. Print.

Schuyler vs. Hughes: A Hokum Reality

Is everyone born equal? This debatable question leads society into chaos, which creates two separate worlds that defines power through races. As we go back in time, the American society where considered to be perfect, each race had its own form of life style. Whites would go to work and come home with money while blacks would work in the fields and bring goods for their masters. Having this image set in our minds, we have created different powers and stereotypes that bring a new definition for the races. As we know, an African-American man will always be underestimated without realizing the qualities that he has. This creates a poor reputation for their culture, which demonstrates the oppression that the Negro culture faces each decade.

When professors say, “white person” words such as power, superior, and economy would come to mind, but when they say “black person” sometimes are slavery, poor, and dirt. This is what people would call it as “The reality,” an ugly reality that has been tattooed in our brains. However, some people have been fighting to erase such images to show pride for their race, and to show a new perspective that can define everyone equally. Meanwhile, others are just accepting this reality that portrays their failure. One way to represent this struggle is through art. In American art, white artists dominated the art field even though African-American artist have tried to establish their culture through art. However, due to the unfair critics, African-Americans did not receive the credits deserved for their work.

Famous African-American writers such as George S. Schuyler and Langston Hughes are the type of writes that show different ideologies of accepting the “reality.” On Schuyler’s essay the “The Negro-Art Hokum,” Schuyler is giving a wide range of ideas concerning equality with a conclusion of “resistance is worthless, and the ‘reality’ cannot be changed.” On the other hand, Hughes’ essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” believes in the Negro culture, and feels that Negro Art is a reflection of their pride. On Schuyler’s essay, he does not use any type of evidence to support his essay; his ideas through out the essay are based on his ideologies, which creates skeptical ideas of whether what he is saying is true or false.

Schuyler mentions on his essay, “Negroes and whites from the same localities in this country talk, think, and act about the same.” but how could this be true when back in the 1920’s African-Americans did not have enough money or the same “equality” to interact in activities with the whites. Unless, they are in a “high-class” environment in which they live “like white folks” as Hughes mentioned on his essay. Before establishing the Civil Rights Bill in 1965, there were two societies that separated each race; it was impossible for a black person to share a bar or a restaurant without being discriminated or kicked out. Also, what stood out the most on his essay was this sentence, “education and environment were about the same for blacks and white.” The environment might have been the same but very doubtful about education; African-American did not have the chance to receive education, if there were it was the worst. If some sort of evidence supported this statement it would have been more believable but due to his lack of evidence, it is almost impossible not to agree with him since he writes beautifully that it distracts you. Whereas Hughes uses the same technique that drags your attention into agreeing with what he says. On his very first paragraph he mentions that a young Negro poet said to him “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet.” This sentence can be understood in so many ways and not as a lack of self-identity as he tries to portray. This could mean that the young poet does not want to be stereotyped and wants to fit equally, but Hughes reflects that he wanted to be “white” and not “black.”

As Schuyler believes, there is no such thing as Negro art because it is the same as any other art. “As for literature, painting, and sculpture of Aframericans—such as there is—it is identical in kind with the literature, painting, and sculpture of white Americans: that is, it shows more or less evidence of European influence.” With this idea, Schuyler does not believe that African-American has created any form of art that represents their culture; moreover, because Schuyler was from the North, he believes that Negroes from the North are not the same as the South.

“True, from dark-skinned sources have come those slaves songs based on Protestant hymns and Biblical texts known as the spirituals, work songs and secular songs of sorrow and tough luck known as the blues, that outgrowth of rag-time known as jazz... no one can or does deny this. But these are contributions of a caste in certain section of he country. They are foreign to Northern Negroes, West Indians Negroes, and African Negros. They are not more expressive or characteristic of the Negro race than the music and dancing of the Appalachian highlanders or the Dalmatian peasantry of the South, very well. Any group under similar circumstances would have produced something similar. It is merely a coincidence that this peasant class happens to be of a darker hue than the other inhabitants of the land.” (Schuyler, 1)

Schuyler describes that the Blues is as “hokum” as any other creation that the Negroes from the South has created. Whatever it is from the South, it is considered to be “foreign” for the other Negroes simply because they cannot relate themselves to those creations. When in fact, Hughes believes that “Negro artist can give his racial individuality, his heritage of rhythm and warmth, and his incongruous humor that so often, as in the Blues, becomes ironic laughter mixed with tears.” Even though both writers have the opposite ideas of the Blues, they are both correct about each statement. The Negroes from the North did not recognize themselves with the Blues since they have not experienced what the Negroes from the South have. This shows how Schuyler makes a point in which Blues sometimes can be foreign while for others is a representation of the Negro culture.

In order to be recognized as a Negro artist, he has to work double in order to reach the level of any other artist in America in which Hughes mentions, “The road for the serious black artist, then, who would produce a racial art is mot certainly rocky and the mountain is high.” The use of metaphor and imagery indicates the difficult path that a black person has to go through in order to be taken seriously in the society. The word “rocky” gives a sensation of roughness, and “the mountain is high” indicates that it is a long journey. Through out the route of reaching the top, the approach will be challenging and difficult, which reflects a stressful directions that the artist will encounter. Despite the challenge, it will be worth it by the end of the day; Hughes believes in the Negroes culture, and what represent them are the hope and the pride for being an African-American.

So I am ashamed for the black poet who says, “I want to be a poet, not a Negro poet,” as though his own racial world were not as interesting as any other world. I am ashamed, too, for the colored artist who runs from the painting of Negro faces to the painting of sunsets after the manner of the academicians because he fears the strange unwhiteness of his own features. An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he must choose. (Hughes, 4)

Hughes uses a persuasive tone as a way to portrait that the Negro-Art is part of the American art. They should not be “afraid” of their choices that create their identity. He mentions that “colored artist runs from the painting of Negro faces” because they “fear” the lack of whiteness on it, which reflects the oppression felt for being black, and they have tried to obey the voice that does not belong to them in order to be part of the society. Their submissive position is only psychological that decreases their self-identity, forgetting the qualities that truly represents their soul. In order to recover their voices, they “must never be afraid to do what [they] must choose” since that would demonstrate the little hope existing in themselves.

Both authors are focused on race pride but one believes that it will not survive. Hughes encourages people to believe in themselves, and the power that they have to survive in the society. However, Schuyler is telling people to quit their fights seeing that they will never win their pride. Even if quitting this hope, the unscrupulous mind of the people won’t change until they keep on fighting to overcome this “reality.”

Reference:

Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” The Nation. N.p, 16 June 1926. Print.

Schuyler, George. “The Negro-Art Hokum” The Nation. N.p, 23 June 1926. Print.

What is the Blues Aesthetic?

After spending three months in the course of the Blues Aesthetic, I can finally give an (almost) “accurate” definition of what is the Blues Aesthetic. In the beginning of this semester people kept asking what is Aesthetic? Or what is the Blues Aesthetic? But all I could say was: “oh you know… the Blues, the music genre, and the African-Americans.” But now I can say that the Blues Aesthetic deals with the African-Americans from the south, in which being slaves created stories of their past and present lives. These stories were reflected in songs and poetries that they called the Blues. The Blues was not just a type of music genre; it was something more psychological that defined their souls in which African-Americans were finding their own identity and were trying to offer it to the people to see their true lives. However, the church identified the Blues as “the devil’s music” due to the portrayal of their sexual, negative, angry lives and the church would only portray positive attitudes toward God.

The Blues serves as a catharsis in which African-Americans after expressing their negative lives, they feel a relief of emotions, emotions that are suppressed in their souls for not having a voice. This is why the Blues is considered to be a psychological development for the people because it transcends them to a better position, which explains the flying African-Americans. The use of magic realism gives a metaphor on how the Blues brings their hope back to the surface; after being oppressed for so many years, they can finally see they can do something better in their lives rather than just being slaves. The Blues Aesthetic might not be seen right away because they are hidden for the people’s sight. In order to see it, our minds have to be in a psychological state to open the door of a text, a song, poetry, or a painting to capture the message that is being offered.

Digital Project

It's a Man's World Mashup (James Brown & Christina Aguilera)

Mashup Trial

Collage #2 (Improved/Different software utilized)

Collage #1