ossible for a Negro to conceive of himself purely in
individualistic terms. Any Negro who thought of himself as an exceptional
or unique individual was brought sharply back to reality by this racism
which relentlessly and mercilessly depicted him as nothing more than a
"nigger."

In spite of the individualism which was preached as a basic part
of the American creed, the Afro-American community was forced to develop
a strong sense of group cooperation. In the face of growing racism and
segregation, the idealism of the new Negro was still based on the
American ideal of democracy, and his goal was still to share fully, some
day, in American life and institutions. The Afro-American's heightened
sense of racial consciousness was not an end in itself. This racial
self-consciousness gave him strength to withstand the daily injustices
which confronted him, and it provided him with faith in himself and hope
in the future. Locke believed that the new Negro was taking the racism
which had been forced upon him by white society and was turning it to
positive uses, transforming obstacles to his progress into "dams of
social energy and power."

The factor which prevented this new, energetic Afro-American from
becoming alienated from America was that its goals were identical with
the expressed ideals of the country. The racial discrimination and
injustice from which Afro-Americans suffered, though deeply entrenched in
national institutions, were themselves a contradiction to the American
democratic philosophy. The Afro-American, besides having justice on his
side, was comforted knowing that his goals were sanctioned and hallowed
by the nation's ideals. As Locke put it, "We cannot be undone without
America's undoing".

Thousands of Negro migrants poured north into Chicago. The factories in
Detroit attracted thousands more, and Harlem became the center of "the
promised land." James Johnson described the Harlem of the 1920s as the
"culture capitol of the Negro world." Its magnetism attracted Negroes
from all across America, from the West Indies and even some from Africa
itself. Harlem contained more Negroes per square mile than any other
place on earth. It drew a bewildering and energizing diversity of
peoples. Students, peasants, artists, businessmen, professional men,
poets, musicians, and workers; all came to Harlem. It combined both the
exploiters and the outcasts. Langston Hughes, in describing his first
entrance into Harlem