Melting-Pot Modernism

Chapter 3

91 q Chapter 3 James฀Weldon฀Johnson’s฀Integrationist฀ Chameleonism James฀Weldon฀Johnson฀was฀committed฀to฀racial฀ integration.฀His฀fidelity฀to฀this฀objective,฀which฀he฀saw฀as฀entailing฀the฀construction ฀of฀a฀racially฀egalitarian฀American฀state฀and฀culture,฀was฀unmatched฀ among฀African฀American฀intellectuals฀of฀his฀generation.฀This฀integrationism฀ represents฀the฀melting-pot฀impetus฀in฀Progressive-era฀race฀relations;฀it฀has,฀ most฀famously,฀been฀decried฀by฀Harold฀Cruse฀as฀preventing฀the฀emergence฀ of฀an฀autonomous฀ethnic฀culture,฀but฀it฀has฀also฀been฀associated฀with฀“New฀ Negro”฀self-deception฀by฀critics฀such฀as฀David฀Levering฀Lewis฀and฀Henry฀ Louis฀Gates,฀Jr.1 ฀More฀recently,฀however,฀George฀Hutchinson฀(who฀provides฀ a฀helpful฀guide฀to฀critical฀debates฀over฀Harlem฀Renaissance฀interracialism)฀ has฀argued฀that฀the฀historical฀complexity฀of฀race฀is฀best฀understood฀through฀ intellectual฀nexuses฀such฀as฀Johnsonian฀integrationism,฀“those฀moments฀when฀ and฀places฀where฀the฀intertwined฀discourses฀of฀race,฀culture,฀and฀nation฀were฀ exposed฀to฀questioning,฀to฀skepticism,฀to฀transformation,฀however฀small฀and฀ localized,฀ and฀ when฀ possibilities฀ for฀ coalitions฀ of฀ cultural฀ reformers฀ were฀ envisioned฀and฀exploited.”2 ฀This฀chapter฀focuses฀on฀just฀such฀a฀moment฀and฀ place,฀showing฀how฀deeply฀Johnson฀was฀engaged฀with฀melting-pot฀ideas฀and฀ how฀this฀engagement฀embedded฀concerns฀about฀racial฀equity฀into฀modernist฀ literature,฀culture,฀and฀politics. James฀Weldon฀Johnson’s฀prominence฀in฀the฀National฀Association฀for฀the฀ Advancement฀of฀ Colored฀People฀—฀ he฀served฀as฀the฀executive฀secretary฀of฀ 92 MELTING-POT MODERNISM the฀organization฀for฀almost฀ten฀years,฀1920฀ –1930฀—฀ speaks฀to฀his฀embrace฀ of฀ the฀ Progressive-era฀ integrationist฀ ideals฀ that฀ organization฀ represented.฀ Unlike฀many฀of฀his฀peers,฀despite฀significant฀disillusionment฀he฀remained฀ true฀to฀Progressive-era฀assimilationist฀ideals฀well฀past฀the฀First฀World฀War฀and฀ through฀the฀interwar฀period.฀Unlike฀Henry฀James฀(฀ but฀like฀Willa฀ Cather฀ and฀ Gertrude฀ Stein),฀Johnson฀ lived฀ and฀ worked฀ both฀ in฀ and฀ beyond฀ the฀ formative฀ years฀ of฀ the฀ melting฀ pot,฀ and฀ the฀ intellectual฀ influence฀ of฀ that฀ early฀moment฀can฀and฀should฀be฀traced฀through฀his฀later฀work.฀Johnson฀ insisted฀that฀African฀Americans฀had฀“woven฀[themselves]฀into฀the฀woof฀and฀ warp฀of฀the฀nation.”3 ฀In฀other฀words,฀his฀concern฀was฀not฀whether฀African฀ Americans฀could฀be฀admitted฀into฀the฀melting฀pot,฀for฀he฀believed฀they฀were฀ excellent฀examples฀of฀the฀vitality฀of฀cultural฀mixture.฀Rather,฀Johnson฀was฀ concerned฀with฀whether฀or฀not฀African฀Americans฀would฀receive฀credit฀for฀ their฀ongoing฀contributions฀to฀cultural฀mixture,฀and฀whether฀they฀ought฀ to฀intervene฀in,฀and฀change฀the฀nature฀of,฀the฀process฀of฀cultural฀mixture.฀As฀ both฀a฀writer฀and฀a฀political฀activist฀Johnson฀worked฀to฀change฀political,฀ social,฀ economic,฀ and฀ aesthetic฀ conditions฀ so฀ as฀ to฀ better฀ reflect฀ ongoing฀ cultural฀interweaving,฀and฀so฀as฀to฀ensure฀that฀the฀interweaving฀observed฀certain ฀ethical฀principles.฀His฀work฀in฀imagining฀and฀promoting฀a฀shared฀civic฀ culture฀resonates฀with฀melting-pot฀efforts฀like฀those฀of฀Jane฀Addams฀and฀ John฀Dewey.฀He฀approached฀integration฀as฀melting-pot฀thinkers฀approached฀ assimilation:฀that฀is,฀he฀understood฀cultural฀merging฀to฀take฀place฀at฀a฀formal ฀level.฀Johnson’s฀melting-pot฀modernism฀is฀most฀distinctly฀registered฀in฀ his฀decision฀to฀advance฀his฀political฀and฀cultural฀agendas฀through฀sustained฀ experimentation฀at฀the฀level฀of฀expressive฀form.฀His฀writings฀both฀theorize฀ and฀wage฀a฀formal฀campaign฀for฀equity฀on฀behalf฀of฀black฀America. Johnson฀was฀a฀polymath฀—฀ educator,฀lawyer,฀songwriter,฀journalist,฀novelist ,฀anthropologist,฀historian฀—฀ but฀the฀roles฀for฀which฀he฀is฀best฀known,฀ executive฀secretary฀of฀the฀NAACP฀and฀senior฀statesman฀of฀the฀Harlem฀Renaissance ,฀bespeak฀the฀close฀ties฀that฀he฀perceived฀between฀political฀activism฀and฀ artistic฀innovation.฀This฀chapter฀explores฀the฀generic฀and฀expressive฀variety฀ through฀which฀Johnson฀advanced฀his฀ideas฀of฀cultural฀fusion,฀a฀merging฀conceived ฀not฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀physical฀mingling฀that฀Charles฀Chesnutt฀prescribed฀ in฀his฀essay฀series฀“The฀Future฀American”฀(1900),฀but฀in฀expressive฀terms.฀ (฀Johnson฀characteristically฀declared฀that฀one฀could฀“write฀so฀as฀to฀fuse฀white฀ and฀black฀America.”4 )฀In฀a฀1922฀editorial฀for฀the฀New฀York฀Age,฀Johnson฀laid฀ out฀the฀shared฀forms฀by฀which฀cultural฀fusion฀was฀enacted:฀“Peoples฀are฀not฀ related฀and฀united฀by฀physical฀aspects฀or฀even฀by฀blood.฀They฀are฀united฀by฀ common฀cultures,฀common฀ideas,฀common฀ideals,฀common฀languages,฀common ฀educations.”5 ฀Johnson’s฀career฀consists฀of฀an฀extraordinary฀array฀of฀efforts฀ JAMES WELDON JOHNSON’S INTEGRATIONIST CHAMELEONISM 93 to฀“relate”฀and฀“unite”฀through฀the฀sharing฀of฀these฀“common”฀forms.฀Here฀ ฀ I฀will฀be฀focusing฀in฀particular฀on฀his฀project฀to฀embed฀something฀a฀little฀less฀ common฀in฀the฀melting...