Jean Toomer: Lynching, Slavery, and Assimilation of the Black Community

Jean Toomer was a multinational poet who often struggled consolidating his several identities. He was born in 1894 and grew up in several different communities including all white neighborhoods as well as rural Georgia. In Georgia he witnessed the aftermath of the slavery, civil war, and reconstruction. Interestingly, Toomer was able to pass for being white. So some people don't believe he should be considered a a great African American writer. Other people credit his work Cane as “spearheading the Harlem Renaissance” (Ellman). Overall his poems focus on the plight of the African American's communities attempting to find a place in society after the reconstruction era.
The poem Her lips are Copper Wire, is about having no voice. The black community had little representation in America in the early 20th century, especially in rural America. “With your tongue remove the tape/and press your lips to mine” Toomer is emphasizing the unity of the black community. Toomer believed that the black community would need to unify on common goals to gain more rights and freedom. This was also a big component of the Harlem Renaissance. This poem emphasizes the search of African American's for a stronger place in society, Toomer literally wants African American's to have the courage to speak up for freedom. The time was now, slavery was over and it was now or never. Another powerful poem is Portrait in Georgia. This is a poem about lynching. Toomer is comparing the oppression of women to the oppression of African Americans. “Hair braided chestnut/coiled like a lyncher's rope” This poem also resembles and imagist poem which shows that he was influenced by modernism. The colors used in this poem are also symbolic. He only mentions flesh tones. “Chestnut/White/Black.”
Perhaps one of his best poems is entitled Georgia Dusk. This is about rural Georgia after reconstruction. He uses a lot of nature imagery in this poem which creates a strong image of rural Georgia. “tournaments of Flashing Gold/Cane lipped/footpaths of the Swamps/Pine Needles fall” Georgia has strong ties to its land and is known for its agriculture. During slavery, Africans plowed the cane fields and worked in the sawmills. After slavery, the African Americans were kicked off those lands they had previously lived on. Toomer refers to these hard workers as “The Chorus of the Cane”. This poem also alludes to traditional African cultures. “High Priests, an ostrich, and a juju man.” In Africa, some men were kings and tribe leaders but in America they were all slaves. This poem also has part about lynching. Toomer writes, “Blood hot eyes.” That is what happens to your eyes when you are hung from a tree. Lynching had been considered a sport and entertainment for people in the 19th century. African Americans clearly had a lot to fight against in the south. All these poems fit together well in the Harlem Renaissance. Toomer wanted to give African Americans a voice where they previously had none and also wanted to help integrate them into society.

Ramazani, Jahan, Richard Ellmann, and Robert O'Clair. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. Print.