In addition, the ghettoization of American cities, the persistence of poverty in the midst of prosperity, and the disproportionate involvement of blacks in both of these processes challenged perceptions about the effectiveness of the American system.1 In 1926, professor Alain Locke observed, "The younger generation is vibrant with a new psychology." which was shown by a shift from ".social disillusionment to race pride." Locke noted that this new psychology rejected the old stereotypes of black "aunties, uncles, and mammies" and substituted instead self-respect, self-dependence, and racial unity.2 Emerging from social and intellectual upheaval, the Harlem Renaissance marked a change in the attitude of blacks in the United States. While the Harlem Renaissance was not a political movement, its participants were affected by the political world around them and responded in varying ways to their political environment.

             Perhaps the most direct way that black writers addressed political issues was through political and protest writings. Claude McKay"s 1919 sonnet "If We Must Die" expressed his anger toward the race riots of 1919 and urged blacks to respond with violence when confronted with force, working against the odds and gaining dignity through their struggles. He writes, "Like men we"ll face the murderous pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!"3 Similarly, Langston Hughes made protest a significant element in his works, especially in his somewhat radical poetry of the early 1930"s. "Because I am the white man"s son, his own Bearing his bastard birth-mark on my face, I will dispute his title to the throne, Forever fight him for my rightful place."4 wrote Hughes in his poem "Mulatto". Throughout his poetry, he directly and indirectly referred to vigorous hatred for the white man, of his people"s dreams deferred too long.