The Cotton Club's Complicated Relationship with Black Performers

The Cotton Club was a famous nightclub located in Harlem that was active from 1923 to 1935. Despite being owned by white people, the club also had an undercurrent of agency from black people. This essay explores various aspects of the club and its relationship with black performers. Firstly, it highlights how black employees were mistreated by white owners. Secondly, it examines the "white gaze" and notions of exotica, and how black performers subverted this gaze to express themselves. Thirdly, it analyzes the policies of segregation at the club and in Harlem, but also argues that segregation could be flexible. Finally, it explores depictions of the Cotton Club in newspapers and briefly touches on black-owned clubs in Harlem and their association with the Cotton Club.

Black performers at the Cotton Club were often exploited and mistreated by white owners and patrons. Memoirs by black performers like Howard Eugene (‘Stretch’) Johnson and Dempsey J. Travis reveal the poor conditions and mistreatment they experienced, with Johnson even likening the selection process of female performers to that of a slave market. The owners underpaid and overworked them, discouraged the use of the only female bathroom (reserved for white women), and placed them in unventilated dressing rooms. Travis even compared the club's owners to slave masters, describing how they 'chained' jazz musicians to the club. Duke Ellington was even forced to pay for his own replacement when he wanted to leave the club.

However, some sources suggest that white patrons did not exploit or belittle black performers. A review by Abel Green in 1927 claimed that the black staff was not servile towards the white clientele and displayed agency. In Langston Hughes' autobiography, he criticized the influx of white people into Harlem, as they took up prime seats in nightclubs and stared at black customers like amusing animals in a zoo. This further contributed to white people believing that black people wanted them in Harlem.

It is important to note that white authors present a different view of the Cotton Club compared to black authors. Black sources like Langston Hughes' The Big Sea and Stretch Johnson's memoir provide a more accurate representation of the black experience. This highlights the need to locate black voices to gain a better understanding of the Cotton Club.