“When the Negro was in Vogue” describes a period in the history of the United States which generally accepted racism against African Americans.
For many, it had become a way of life. While not slaves, African Americans were considered second-class citizens who could not dine in the same restaurants as whites and neither could they go the same school or even take the same part of the bus.
African Americans were not given a lot of opportunities to climb up the economic ladder and yet, in all this, the Entertainment clubs in Harlem were the most popular in the country which even the white population attended and enjoyed.