The Old Negro

The Old Negro according to Locke was a “creature of moral debate and historical controversy”. The Old Negro was beat up and created by the environment that they were forced to live in. Historically traumatized due to events forced upon them and the social perspective of them as a whole. The Old Negro was something to be pushed and moved around and told what to do and worried about. The Old Negro was a product of stereotypes and judgments that were put on them not ones that they created. They were forced to live in a shadow of themselves and others actions.

The New Negro

The New Negro according to Locke is a Negro that now has an understanding of oneself. African Americans at one point lacked self respect and self dependence which has created a new dynamic and allowed the birth of the New Negro. They have become the Negro of today which is also the changed Negro. He writes, “By shedding the old chrysalis of the Negro problem we are achieving something like a spiritual emancipation”.

 

 

 

Here is a link discussing a short biography of Alain Locke: