Slave on the Block

“They were people who went in for Negroes—Michael and Anne—the Carraways. But not in the social-service, philanthropic sort of way, no. They saw no use in helping a race that was already too charming and naive and lovely for words.” 

The opening paragraph reveals the Carraways’ paternalistic attitude toward Black culture and Black people. The idea that Black people are naive and lack sophistication reflects the notion that they’re primitives whose innocence of the modern world requires protection for their own good. It implies that white people must protect that innocence.

“So they went in for the Art of Negroes—the dancing that had such jungle life about it, the songs that were so simple and fervent, the poetry that was so direct, so real. They never tried to influence that art, they only bought it and raved over it, and copied it. For they were artists, too.” 

The Carraways’ belief that consuming Black art is part of what makes them artists is an example of cultural appropriation. The Carraways think that they can embrace and create Black art without embracing real Black people and the culture that produces this art.

“Of course they knew Harlem like their own backyard, that is, all the speakeasies and night clubs and dance halls, from the Cotton Club and the ritzy joints where Negroes couldn’t go themselves, down to places like the Hot Dime, where white folks couldn’t get in—unless they knew the man. (And tipped heavily.)”

Like many wealthy white people of the period, the Carraways can cross the racial divide as patrons of clubs in Harlem, a Black quarter of New York that inspired the Harlem Renaissance. Although the Carraways claim to love Black people, they’re complicit in white supremacist power structures because they support clubs that practice racial segregation. Their sense of pride in the ability to use their wealth to enter Black spaces is further evidence of their complicity.