Public Domain Image, Courtesy New York Public Library
As World War 1 came to a close, a mass number of jazz musicians migrated from New Orleans to other major cities such as New York and Chicago (A Culture of Change Boundless US History, 2020). This led to further dispersal of jazz and different interpretations of jazz to arise. Through the 1920s into the 1930s, Jazz grew from black to white and was played for everyone and anyone in the US, and due to many speakeasies, illegal night clubs and more, jazz became popular, moving from a “hot negro style” to a “sweet style”, very quickly in a small period of time (Seago, 2000). A number of entertainment venues erupted in the major cities, such as the Cotton Club, which symbolized the Jazz Age.
The Jazz Age was one of the most culturally defining moments of the ‘20s. This was the first time in history that underground jazz was brought to light and hit the main stage. Sadly, as influential, the Jazz Age was, it was also a time of racial segregation due to the Jim Crow Laws at the time (A Culture of Change Boundless US History, 2020). This segregation meant that African-Americans were forced to live, work or go to schools that were different from those of the White people. The Great Gatsby (2015) touches on this racial segregation maybe about twice through the novel, and it is disheartening to see how it is put aside in the novel as unimportant, when in fact African-Americans are what started the Jazz Age.
Fitzgerald includes two prominent scenes in the novel where race-related problems are touched. The first one being when Tom Buchanan is astounded at the fact that some African-Americans are being driven around by a Caucasian male. Further, Tom also mentions, earlier in the novel, a book he advocates for, The Rise of the Colored Empires, which is essentially a text that talks about nationalism. The reason Fitzgerald would have included these scenes in the novel is that it was relevant at the time of the novel, however, maybe the reason why he doesn’t explicitly address the Jim Crow era in the Great Gatsby is that that was the norm on how the American People lived at the time (Ogren, 1989). Fitzgerald also termed the black men in the novel as “bucks” (Fitzgerald, 2015, 74), which essentially is linking black males to animals that white men at that time would go and hunt (Maureen, 2004). Fitzgerald may have embraced the lifestyle of jazz, and the new music it brought about, but he by no means embraced the practitioners of Jazz music.
In the 1920s, many white critics would demean the African-Americans and do so through spiteful newspaper articles about Jazz. There are a ton of anti-jazz articles between the 1920s to the 1930s for the sole purpose to attack African-Americans more than Jazz itself. Certain articles like
“The Jazz Problem,”
“Official declares the ‘Jazz Age’ Has Increased the Use of Drugs,”
“Students in Arms Against Jazz,”
“Unspeakable Jazz Must Go,” and “The Appeal of Primitive Jazz” created a description of the African-Americans and considered the Jazz / Harlem culture as something evil. An example of how for many White Americans Jazz was associated more with the African-Americans and the hate they had for them rather than a musical style itself, bringing about some horrible anti-black mockery and demeaning African-Americans to almost nothingness and “culturally inferior” (Seago, 2000). One of the first pieces that describe the racism of some white writers is “The Appeal of Primitive Jazz” (1917). This article relates the “colored” groups of people to “[be] infected with a virus” that made people around them “shake and jump and writhe in ways … a return of the medieval jumping mania.” They went even further to say that Jazz was always performed by “savages” who would show their “retarded” and “aggressive” nature through their music; Jazz.
While not all white Americans disregard African-Americans as less than, a majority of them did so. Hence, it’s interesting to see the degree to which the role that African-Americans played in the Jazz Age was omitted in such a profound novel about the 1920s. This allows us to question Fitzgerald’s lack of consideration of crediting the African-Americans for the cultural shift (A Culture of Change Boundless US History, n.d) they brought about, due to their revolution of Jazz Music.
Anderson, Maureen. “The White Reception of Jazz in America.” African American Review, vol. 38, no. 1, 2004, pp. 135–145.
A Culture of Change / Boundless US History. (n.d). Courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/a-culture-of-change/.
Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby. Planet Ebook, 2015.
Ogren, Kathy. The Jazz Revolution: Twenties in America & the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, 1989
Seago, Lynne “From Potent to Popular: The Effects of Racism on Chicago Jazz 1920-1930,” Constructing the Past: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 6. The Ames Library, 2000.
Through researching this topic I decided to look into some Jazz music as well, and here are some that I found that I absolutely loved.
I’ve linked them all below, so hopefully, you can enjoy it as well!
Nina Simone – Ain’t Got No, I Got Life (1968)
Nina Simone – I Put a Spell on You (1965)
Louis Armstrong – La Vie En Rose (1950)
Fats Waller – Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Stormy Weather (1943)
Duke Ellington – It Don’t Mean a Thing (1943) [Originally composed in 1931]
Jelly Roll Morton – The Crave (1938)
Billie Holiday – Strange fruit (1937)
Earl Hines and His Orchestra – That’s A Plenty (1934)
Mary Lou Williams – Willow Weep For Me (1932)
Blanche Calloway – I’m Gettin’ Myself Ready For You (1931)
Joseph Nathan “King” Oliver – Riverside Blues (1923)
Impressive post Malaika! I had to drop in as well and comment on the way you structured your post. The pictures are really engaging and interesting.
It is really unfortunate that such a “culturally defining” age was discriminated against and dehumanized; you mention an article that mentions: how “Jazz was always performed by “savages” who would show their “retarded” and “aggressive” nature through their music; Jazz.” The dehumanization of black individuals had long been prominent, stemming back centuries before the Jazz era. Enslaved individuals were dehumanized and compared to monsters and beasts. Your post remind me of a ENG214 (a course we took with Dr. Kristen).
Malaika you snapped with this post, I loved it.
Just based on what you wrote I was wondering if it”s possible that The Great Gatsby may implcitly represent the American Dream as a segregated ideal? Meaning that it is something only white Americans can achieve. If it does, then why is there a part in the book where Nick sees a reversal of roles, with a white man driving a car full of African Americans? Doesn’t that show how eveyone can work hard and make it, despite the systematic opperssion that they face?
Also near the end you mention how it allows us to question Fitzgerald’s lack of creditation of Jazz to African Americans. Fitzgerald was supposedly a racist, and an anti-semite. I’m going to link some sources talking about his racism and anti-semetism, two of which are scholarly articles that critically analyze how that may be realised in his novels.
Ethnicity in The Great Gatsby, by Peter Gregg Slater: https://www-jstor-org.aus.idm.oclc.org/stable/pdf/440797.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5055%252Ftest&refreqid=excelsior%3A86875c9c8bca855685c8f386bcbf8313
Fitzgerald and the Jews, by Arthur Krystal: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/fitzgerald-and-the-jews
“Dancing with a ghost”: Revolution and Whiteness in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Offshore Pirate”, by Jared Griffin: (read page 2)
https://www-jstor-org.aus.idm.oclc.org/stable/pdf/43487820.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-5055%252Ftest&refreqid=excelsior%3Ace3b7f78eba35658345fe17411cb2a5d
Thank you for this post Malaika. I love how you decided to bring this topic up even though we didn’t discuss it during class (which I only realized just now). I am torn between “Is Fitzgerald trying to depict the reality of white Americans during the Jazz Age by revealing that they are racist and pay no attention the the segregation laws” OR “Is Fitzgerald a racist writer underscoring the importance of racial segregation at the time?” It seems that the issue of race is briefly touched upon, but only as a side-conversation kind of thing that does not contribute anything to the novel, which indicates that Fitzgerald was highly aware of the issue and its prevalence during the time, but reluctant to include it issue in his novel. Was it that its not important? Or what Renard said about the American Dream being represented as a “segregated ideal”? The part that confused me was when Fitzgerald decided to reverse the role of race . Nick comments something along the lines of “anything could happen,” when he looks at the African Americans in a car driven by a white man. Can this be a commentary on the American Dream and how its possible for everyone (even African Americans) or does it simply show an unrealistic portrayal of the American Dream that one aspires to reach but never does?
Interesting topic and thoughtful comments! I also cannot say for sure whether Fitzgerald was being racist in his portrayal of the characters and events in the novel and whether Tom’s racist views echo his own. It is true that almost everyone in the novel is “Nordic” (11), and is presented as having blue eyes and blond hair.
Regarding your remark that “Fitzgerald may have embraced the lifestyle of Jazz, and the new music it brought about, but he by no means embraced the practitioners of Jazz music” and the general attitude of the public towards African American Jazz players that you mentioned, couldn’t Fitzgerald also be critical in his portrayal of race and class in the novel which would lead us to assume that his views contradicted that of the majority?
P.S: Great music, thanks for sharing. Also check out this playlist with music from the 20’s I was listening to while reading the book: https://music.apple.com./ae/playlist/20s-jazz-pop-essentials/pl.affbe9a70f174b609bc3878a8b34f3d0
And another thing about race- there are several excessive mentions of “white” (“our white girlhood […] Our beautiful white-“, 16) and “grey” in the novel (“grey cars”, “ash-grey men”, “gray land”, 19) (still can’t help looking into colors :)) the ideologies of which are often contrasted. Using the color “grey”, Nick could be referring to the “ashes” (19) which symbolize decay and the moral decline of society, but it could also denote the things that the characters choose to avoid looking at, such as the issue of race.