Politicians in the Harlem community did not reflect the neighborhood. They were mostly white men who rose to power using Tammany Hall, a corrupt political structure that provided kickbacks/ benefits to immigrants. In the beginning, this system was mostly offered to Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrants, but would extend into the black/ Caribbean neighbors. Tammany Hall fought for immigrants’ right to citizenship and the right to vote, but only as a basis for the extension of power for certain politicians who believed that they could easily manipulate the immigrants for their needs. This system would weaken into the 1940’s, in which the first black politicians started to gain leeway, but it was a major roadblock for progress. Tammany Hall would try to establish its power by dividing Harlem between native blacks and Caribbean immigrants.
In response to World War I, there was a revival of nationalism and nativism, which lead to anti-foreign sentiment. Tammany Hall refined this notion to divide native blacks and Caribbeans from amassing power and maintaining their own power. The source of major conflict was job competition, since occupations for blacks were limited and Caribbeans were often preferred in comparison for being “smarter” and “more hard working.” Caribbeans also tended to separate themselves from native blacks and heavily focused on building an ethnic community. However, there was a forum in which there was communication about ideas and “the bigger picture.” This forum was called the stepladder, in which speakers would stand on a soap box and communicate/educate on a variety of issues, like race or evolution. Socialism/ Communist ideas were circulated around Harlem through these forums because under this thought everyone was equal and received the same. This notions undercut the racial split hierarchy in America.
A notable speaker in these forums was Marius Garvey who founded the UNIA. He believed in the return to Africa of all black people as a form of unification. He believed races could not live together equal, the purity of race should be m,aintained racism always is present, and that black people needed to exclusively run a country. In this account, he disregarded all ethnic divides and backgrounds of black people and this diaspora to Africa is much more of an imperialism policy than a freedom from oppression. His plan was to empower blacks from America and elsewhere to fight for their civil rights and work towards an individualized economy before the move to Africa. He was deported on a small charge in order to prevent the spreading of his radical ideas. He is now seen as a prophet in the the Rastafarian community.
People in Harlem struggled to establish their own businesses. Businesses required community support, but were very difficult to keep afloat competitively. Businesses often could not keep up to other white business. Caribbeans often ran more businesses and had a niche market in selling ethnic food. Illegal businesses, on the other hand, like the numbers game brought together the neighborhood as well as was participated in by outsiders. It provided multiple jobs like bankers and runners, and it was profitable. people would play hoping to win big, like the lottery. In this circle, the big bosses often become well known and rich. St. Clair, a women running the operation opposed to police framing people and fought for civil rights. Holstein would donate large sum of money to the community. Pompez was a famous baseball player. These black bosses would have to protect their territory from outside gangsters. like Dutch Schultz, who would try to overtake their operation.
Literature played an important component to Harlem culture. It exposes the struggle of wanting to be accepted in American culture, yet being impeded by race and by being a foreigner- Claude McKay was a well known Jamaican writer.
Overall, my favorite chapters were the Panama Canal and the Underground Enterprise Chapters. I like learning about the underbelly of society that drove change.
