(Boardwalk Empire’s Chalky White and Dr. Narcisse)
For those who are unfamiliar with HBO’s hit TV series, Boardwalk Empire, the character Chalky White might come as somewhat of a surprise. Chalky is a black gangster who runs the colored section of town in 1920’s Atlantic City. Although he ultimately answers to the man who runs Atlantic City, Nucky Thompson, Chalky is still portrayed as a formidable figure in the series since he is considered the leader of the black community. Admired by many for his never back down attitude when faced with any sort of conflict, Chalky epitomizes racial individuality as he conducts his business in a world where white men consistently try to take advantage of him. As the first three seasons of the show unravel, it becomes quite clear that Chalky can look out for himself as we witness him ruthlessly protect his bootlegging outfit from white men seeking to over run it. However, in season 4 of the show, Chalky confronts a different sort of enemy with the arrival of Dr. Narcisse, a black gangster from Harlem looking to replace Chalky as the head of the black community in Atlantic city.
From the outset of season 4, these two characters are at each others throats due to the fact that they possess opposing mindsets. Although they are both black gangsters seeking to expand their criminal enterprises, the two could not be further apart in terms of how they conduct their business and, most importantly, how they perceive themselves as criminals. Dr. Narcisse, on one hand, attempts to conceal his identity as a heroin distributer by adopting the behavior of a privileged and educated white man. Chalky, on the other, acts the part of an illicit bootlegger and nightclub owner shamelessly. Being a Harvard educated black man who is involved in the Harlem Renaissance, albeit on a surface level, Dr. Narcisse is essentially presented as the nemesis of Chalky, who is uneducated and came from an extremely poor upbringing. As I progressed through season 4, I could not help but notice that the dichotomy taking form between these two characters could also serve as a representation for the rather tense debate taking place between the architects and the artists of the Harlem Renaissance around this same time period. Dr. Narcisse and his beliefs align with the architects of the Harlem renaissance and integration, while Chalky’s clearly embody those of the artists and racial freedom.
The Architects of the Harlem Renaissance desired uplift and integration into American society through success in art, and while Dr. Narcisse commits his time and effort to this cause in a genuine manner, Chalky has no interest in the notion. The nightclub he owns, and the blues music that rings throughout it are of interest to him instead, not only because they bring him money, but also because he is familiar with them from his upbringing. He does not know the side of life in which education and integration can prove beneficial like Dr. Narcisse. Therefore, it seems as if there is a clear distinction being drawn in the show between the “better class of negro” (Dr. Narcisse) and the “low down folk” (Chalky), just like in Langston Hughes’s work “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” As Hughes points out that the “better class” tries too hard to meet the approval of whites, we see how Dr. Narcisse lives up to this representation as he does so in order to hide his ambitions as a major heroin distributer to Harlem. Thus there is no racial individuality in the case of Dr. Narcisse and his hatred for Chalky stems from his own inability to recognize the importance of racial independence. I feel that, even though Chalky is a criminal, he still stands for what artists like Langston Hughes would have advocated for in that day and age. He, being one of the “low down folk,” didn’t see himself as someone who had to meet the approval of whites, or “the racial mountain,” in order to get somewhere in life. Chalky only had to be true to himself and his upbringing in order to acquire the position he had in the world, whereas Dr. Narcisse had to reject his. Therefore, it’s no wonder that Chalky was able to enter into his own space in society, separate from what the Architects of the Harlem Renaissance would have thought acceptable. In this regard, Hughes would have admired Chalky’s actions in resistance to those of Dr. Narcisse, for he believed that being black outside the view of white people was inspiring on behalf of not only the African American artist, but the whole race during this course in time.