The majority of the inhabitants of the new Harlem, however, simply wanted a decent life without the humiliating daily experiences constantly meted out to people of color. They also wanted to have fun, and it was this aspect of the great Harlem Renaissance that was to make it famous beyond the boundaries of the district and a small circle of literature lovers who admired young black poets whose works were only just beginning to hit the literary mainstream. For most whites, Harlem meant entertainment, and principally jazz, “the most significant, the most indigenous and unprecedented American
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