Cotton Comes To Harlem

A crowd of poor, religious black people in Harlem attend a Back-to-Africa rally, where Reverend Deke O’Malley promises to take them away from poverty and back to their homeland. For the price of $1,000, he will return them to Africa, where they will be given five acres, a mule, and a plow, and “all the seeds you need” (2). The congregation compares themselves to the Jews escaping Egypt and marvel at how much better life will be when they no longer have to serve white folks. Eighty-seven people pay the $1,000 fee. Two white cops watch on suspiciously, though they’ve been instructed to leave the gathering alone. Two colored detectives have been instructed to bring Reverend O’Malley to the DA after he finishes his sermon.

A meat delivery truck approaches, filled with masked white men with Mississippi accents and machine guns. The white men steal all the money that has been raised. One of Reverend O’Malley’s recruiting agents reaches for a gun and gets his head blown off. Panic ensues as the white men escape in the meat truck. The white policemen let the meat truck pass by, assuming all the commotion must be caused by black criminals: “The two white men looked back, exchanging white looks.