The new Negro was doing more than asserting his own
individuality; the entire Afro-American community was developing
a new sense of solidarity. The racist attitudes of mainstream
America, both North and South, made it almost impossible for a
Negro to conceive of himself purely in individualistic terms. Any
Negro who thought of himself as an exceptional or unique
individual was brought sharply back to reality by this racism
which relentlessly and mercilessly depicted him as nothing more
than a "nigger."
In spite of the individualism which was preached as a basic part
of the American creed, the Afro-American community was forced to
develop a strong sense of group cooperation. In the face of
growing racism and segregation, the idealism of the new Negro was
still based on the American ideal of democracy, and his goal was
still to share fully, some day, in American life and institutions.
The Afro-American's heightened sense of racial consciousness was
not an end in itself. This racial self-consciousness gave him
strength to withstand the daily injustices which confronted him,
and it provided him with faith in himself and hope in the future.
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