Final answer:
Poems from the Harlem Renaissance largely deal with racial pride, the fight against racial injustice, and the affirmation of African-American culture, as seen in works by Langston Hughes and Claude McKay.
Step-by-step explanation:
Poems from the Harlem Renaissance express themes of racial pride, resistance against racism, and a celebration of African-American culture and heritage. Poets like Langston Hughes and Claude McKay wrote about the unique struggles and the resilience of African-Americans. In Hughes’s poem I Too Sing America, he encapsulates the hope for equality and recognition, confronted with ongoing segregation and racism. Conversely, McKay’s If We Must Die reflects the urgent call for self-defense during racially charged violence, specifically referring to the Red Summer riots of 1919.
The works of the Harlem Renaissance also represented the disparity between the educational and economic achievements of African Americans and the respect they were due. Despite advances made, the lingering social discrimination was a prominent theme in the creative outputs of the era. Hughes notably chronicled the experiences of black Americans, emphasizing the beauty and strength in their perseverance and cultural identity. Similarly, Zora Neale Hurston explored the richness of rural Black life and dialect in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.