Dorothy West was a black American who lived at a time when blacks were discriminated against. Dorothy West in "Amateur Night in Harlem" paints a picture of the Great Depression as a time when the Whites and Blacks did not get along.
The mood of the mixed-race crowd was changed when a white man was allowed to sing a song that racially profiled the blacks. Despite the fact that he was booed, the emcee allowed him to sing and this hurt the black audience.
In that article, Dorothy West started with a description of a crowd having a good night. The polity became tensed when the blacks felt insulted by a song that was performed by a white man.
This song reminded them of how they have had to slave for the whites. They leave the crowd feeling dejected.
