Harlem Renaissance Female Writer- Nella Larson

Nella Larsen focuses on the issue of skin color in her novel, Passing. In the novel, the light-skinned African Americans dominated black establishment and were successful, whereas dark-skinned African Americans felt rejected. Some of the light-skinned people passed for white people, and the others led fairly successful lives. These characters symbolized the importance of skin color to many people during this time period. During and before the Harlem Renaissance, many white people considered themselves to be better than African Americans, and were often more successful. African Americans were discriminated against and were not given the same opportunities as many white people. Passing expressed the importance of skin color during the Harlem Renaissance.