Do you know the best way to express racial pride? Many African artists of all kinds debated over expressing racial pride during the Harlem Renaissance. Did high art or folk art express racial pride? Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture, therefore best expresses racial pride.
First of all, high art was an art style that was used during the Harlem Renaissance. Some artists during the Renaissance preferred this art style. This art style included elevated vocabulary to hint it. In document B, it states, “And writing from grasping hands their meed of gold.” The writer uses meed to replace a modern word, “reward” to support and hint high art. In document C, it states, “And there the great God Almighty… This Great God, like a mammy bending over her baby, kneeled down in the dust.” The poet for this poem used mammy to replace female African American servant to higher the vocabulary. This hinted the poem to be high art.
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Folk art was another art style used during the Harlem Renaissance along high art. Folk art is artistic work produced in cultural isolation. Folk art included decorative design and bright colors. In document A, painting #1 was an example of folk art. The painting was bright and very descriptive. In document D, it states, “I went down de station, Ma heart was in ma mouth.” This poem was explaining how someone felt homesick during the Harlem Renaissance. It showed the sadness of the person in this dialogue. In document D, it also states, “When I was home de sunshine seemed like gold. Since I came up North de whole damn world’s turned cold.” The person in this poem expressed his sadness coming north by using folk art with black speech and compared the south with the north. These poems expressed racial pride and folk