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Difficulty: HardThe Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro Movement

Read the following excerpt from Elise Johnson McDougald’s essay 'The Task of Negro Womanhood,' published in Alain Locke's anthology *The New Negro* (1925):

'She is facing a double task—that of sex and race emancipation. A survey of the groups of Negro women will show how they are coping with these twin difficulties... [T]he Negro woman is locked in a struggle on two fronts: one against the limitations imposed by race, and the other against those imposed by sex.'

Based on this excerpt, which of the following statements best analyzes McDougald’s contribution to the intellectual debates of the Harlem Renaissance?

  1. A
    It claims that Black women's social and economic uplift was identical to the goals of mainstream white feminist movements of the era, which focused solely on gender equality.
  2. It highlights the intersectional challenges faced by Black women, arguing that their liberation required addressing both racial prejudice and gender-based discrimination simultaneously.Answer
  3. C
    It attributes the dual oppression of Black women entirely to legal Jim Crow policies in the South, overlooking the de facto discrimination they encountered in Northern urban centers.
  4. D
    It frames the struggle of Black women as an endorsement of Booker T. Washington’s accommodationist strategy, rejecting W.E.B. Du Bois's focus on higher education and political agitation.

Answer

The correct answer is that McDougald highlights the intersectional challenges faced by Black women, arguing that their liberation required addressing both racial prejudice and gender-based discrimination simultaneously.
The correct answer outlines how McDougald identifies the 'double task' of overcoming both racial prejudice and gender discrimination, which became a foundational concept in understanding how Black women experienced the Harlem Renaissance. This contribution is key to the intellectual history of the New Negro movement as it challenged single-issue frameworks of activism.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source passage written by Elise Johnson McDougald.
Identify the core concept of the 'double task,' which refers to Black women facing oppression on two distinct fronts: race and gender.
Understanding the author's central thesis is necessary to evaluate the analytical statements.
2
Contextualize the essay within the intellectual landscape of the Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro movement.
Recognize that McDougald’s work appeared in Alain Locke's *The New Negro*, showing that Black women intellectuals were active contributors who brought an intersectional perspective to the movement.
Placing the text in its historical and intellectual context prevents making inaccurate generalizations about the movement's focus.
3
Evaluate the options against the historical realities of the era and McDougald's text.
Determine that the option highlighting the intersectional challenges of both racial and gender discrimination is correct, while the other options represent common misconceptions regarding segregation, feminism, or political debates.
Differentiating the correct analysis from common student errors leads to the correct choice.

Key Concept

The intersection of race and gender in the Harlem Renaissance
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Topics

The Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro Movement

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