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The Evolution of Harlem’s Black Community

Harlem is a neighborhood bustling with African-American people, with a long history. Before it became bustling with African-Americans, Manhattan’s growing middle class, Immigrant Jews, and Italian working families settled in the area. Then, in the early 1900s, black people suddenly migrated to Harlem due to its low rent prices, which everyone dreams of having nowadays. The sudden influx of African Americans in Harlem caused a historical significance for the African American community as Harlem thrived with cultural and artistic expression and more representation of the black community.

Before African Americans migrated to Harlem, they resided in the lower parts of NYC. However, they became displaced due to natural disasters in the South, which caused many black workers and sharecroppers out of work. Due to this, they were searching for opportunities and increased wages, which led them to Harlem, an area with property busts (when the prices rise beyond what is reasonable) that prevented Harlem landowners from attracting higher-income tenants. As black people started flooding into Harlem, white residents decided not to sell or rent to black people to keep African Americans out of the Harlem area; as a result of their failure, the white residents fled Harlem. Luckily, a law nowadays prevents people from discriminating against certain tenants or buyers because of their race. During this time, racial tensions became more prominent because of prejudice towards/against black people, which caused there to be a series of violent and deadly riots across the US. 

Cultural and artistic representation of the black community during the Harlem Renaissance

By the 1920s, Harlem became predominantly a black neighborhood filled with cultural and artistic expression. This period was known as the Harlem Renaissance, which lasted from 1918 to 1937. Black people started openly expressing themselves, their culture, their history, and their experiences with slavery. Instead of letting others talk about their culture, Black artists took control of how their culture was being represented via jazz music, opera, painting, and so on. They showed America and the world that Black people are intellectual, artistic, and humane and should be respected. During this period, they told the world that they should start seeing black people for who they are and not what people think they are. It’s an amazing and inspiring thing to be able to express yourself in a world that is extremely fast-paced and indifferent to the situations of other ethnicities.

Fast forward a few years after the Great Depression, the city’s black population snowballed in other neighborhoods compared to Harlem, which means that Harlem’s black population decreased gradually. This migration out of Harlem was affected by suburbanization, urban renewal, public housing construction, and disinvestment in the private housing stock. The black people who moved out of Harlem and were part of the city’s middle class decided to live in less-dense neighborhoods with higher-quality housing (e.g. Central Brooklyn, Southeast Queens, and more northern parts of the Bronx). People moving in and out of an area due to the situation is not new and is completely understandable for people who want to live and not just barely survive.

The ones who stayed in Harlem were just surviving as they became increasingly poor, and many resided in public housing projects, subsidized housing, and low-quality private rental housing. As the years went by, black people gained more recognition and the abolishment of segregation due to the Civil Rights Movement. By the ’90s, many changes to federal and city policies drove crime down, and Harlem started getting gentrified, allowing more money to flow into the area, causing property values to increase. This revival of Harlem allowed new opportunities to highlight powerful black voices and driven entrepreneurs in Harlem. 

Harlem went from a predominantly white neighborhood to being a hotspot for the black community in NYC. The black community in Harlem created what Harlem is today through poetry, jazz, opera, etc. Not only have black people expressed themselves in Harlem, but they have also changed the history of Harlem and how other races view black people. Harlem has come a long way in giving black people the recognition they deserve. Harlem is definitely a place to visit as someone who rarely goes anywhere.