---
title: "Self-Respect — AP African American Studies Definition"
description: "Self-respect was a core goal of the New Negro movement: reclaiming Black dignity and rejecting internalized inferiority during the nadir. Key to Topic 3.11."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/self-respect"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# Self-Respect — AP African American Studies Definition

## Definition

In AP African American Studies, self-respect refers to a core objective of the New Negro movement (Topic 3.11): African Americans asserting dignity, pride in Black identity, and self-definition while rejecting the 'psychology of imitation and implied inferiority' imposed during the nadir.

## What It Is

Self-respect was the psychological foundation of the [New Negro movement](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/15-black-history-education-and-african-american-studies/study-guide/eDdDwytqTiY3EKSu "fv-autolink"). After decades of the [nadir](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/nadir "fv-autolink"), when lynching, disenfranchisement, and Jim Crow tried to convince African Americans that they were inferior, the New Negro movement said the opposite. It encouraged African Americans to define their own identity, take pride in Black culture, and advocate for themselves politically (EK 3.11.A.1).

Alain Locke captured this in his 1925 introduction to *The [New Negro](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/10-the-black-arts-movement/study-guide/OzRldJ06rpOdNex1 "fv-autolink")*, writing that the Black mind had "slipped from under the tyranny of social intimidation" and was "shaking off the psychology of imitation and implied inferiority." That's the CED's definition of self-respect in action. It wasn't just a feeling. It showed up in concrete cultural work, like the creation of a Black aesthetic in art, literature, blues, and jazz that pushed back against racial stereotypes (EK 3.11.A.2 and 3.11.A.3). Self-respect was the inner shift; the Harlem Renaissance was what it produced.

## Why It Matters

Self-respect sits at the heart of Topic 3.11 (The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance) in [Unit 3](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3 "fv-autolink"): The Practice of Freedom. It directly supports learning objective 3.11.A, which asks you to describe how the New Negro movement emphasized self-definition, racial pride, and cultural innovation. Here's the key move the exam wants you to make. The art of the Harlem Renaissance wasn't art for art's sake. [Jazz](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/jazz "fv-autolink"), blues, poetry, and visual art were counternarratives, evidence that African Americans were defining themselves instead of accepting how white society defined them. If you can explain self-respect as the engine behind those cultural achievements, you can connect psychology to politics to art, which is exactly the kind of reasoning the unit rewards.

## Connections

### [The New Negro: An Interpretation (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-new-negro-an-interpretation)

[Alain Locke](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/alain-locke "fv-autolink")'s 1925 anthology is where the term gets its exam-ready definition. Locke argued that 'renewed self-respect and self-dependence' would push Black community life into 'a new dynamic phase.' Exam questions quote this passage directly, so know it as the primary source for the concept.

### [Nadir (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/nadir)

Self-respect only makes sense against the nadir. The lowest point of post-Reconstruction [racial violence](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/16-the-great-migration/study-guide/svjt3P3WJXeyqr7E "fv-autolink") and Jim Crow is the 'before' picture. The New Negro movement's insistence on dignity and self-definition was a direct response to the nadir's attempt to enforce inferiority (EK 3.11.A.1).

### ["The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-negro-artist-and-the-racial-mountain)

[Langston Hughes](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/langston-hughes "fv-autolink")'s 1926 essay is self-respect applied to art. He rejected the urge of Black artists to imitate white standards and insisted on creating from Black life on its own terms. That's the same 'shaking off the psychology of imitation' Locke described, just aimed at creative work.

### Blues and jazz (Unit 3)

These musical innovations were self-respect made audible. Built from Black Southern traditions and carried north by migration, blues and jazz served as counternarratives to racial stereotypes (EK 3.11.A.3). When a question asks for evidence of New Negro objectives, cultural production like this is your go-to.

## On the AP Exam

Self-respect shows up most often in source-based multiple-choice questions built around Alain Locke's 1925 introduction to *The New Negro*, especially the lines about 'renewed self-respect and self-dependence' and 'shaking off the psychology of imitation and implied inferiority.' Those questions ask you to identify Locke's reasoning (how psychological change leads to community change) or to pick the best evidence that the movement shifted Black political consciousness. On the free-response side, the 2026 DBQ asked you to explain the extent to which the objectives of the New Negro movement were achieved. Self-respect is one of those objectives, so a strong essay uses Harlem Renaissance sources as evidence that self-definition and racial pride were (or weren't) realized. The skill being tested isn't reciting the definition. It's connecting the inner goal (dignity, self-definition) to outward evidence (art, music, literature, political advocacy).

## self-respect vs Self-definition

These two travel together in LO 3.11.A but aren't identical. Self-respect is the attitude, valuing yourself and rejecting internalized inferiority. Self-definition is the action, deciding for yourself who you are instead of accepting labels imposed by white society. Locke's argument links them in order: regain self-respect first, and self-definition and political advocacy follow. On the exam, use self-respect when a source describes psychological change and self-definition when it describes African Americans creating their own identity or aesthetic.

## Key Takeaways

- Self-respect was a core objective of the New Negro movement, meaning African American dignity, pride in identity, and rejection of internalized racial inferiority.
- It developed as a direct response to the nadir, when racial violence and Jim Crow tried to enforce the idea that African Americans were inferior (EK 3.11.A.1).
- Alain Locke's 1925 introduction to The New Negro is the key primary source, describing Black Americans 'shaking off the psychology of imitation and implied inferiority.'
- Self-respect fueled the creation of a Black aesthetic, so Harlem Renaissance art, literature, blues, and jazz count as evidence that this objective was being pursued.
- On the exam, connect the psychological shift (self-respect) to its visible outcomes (cultural production and political advocacy), which is the reasoning Locke himself used.

## FAQs

### What does self-respect mean in the New Negro movement?

It means African Americans asserting their dignity and pride in Black identity while rejecting the internalized sense of inferiority imposed during the nadir. The CED frames it as part of the movement's push for self-definition and political self-advocacy (EK 3.11.A.1).

### Was self-respect just a feeling, or did it lead to real change?

It led to real change. Alain Locke argued in 1925 that 'renewed self-respect and self-dependence' would launch Black community life into a 'new dynamic phase,' and the Harlem Renaissance backed him up with innovations in blues, jazz, art, and literature that countered racial stereotypes.

### How is self-respect different from racial pride or self-definition?

Self-respect is valuing yourself and refusing inferiority, racial pride is celebrating Black identity and culture specifically, and self-definition is actively deciding who you are rather than accepting outside labels. LO 3.11.A bundles all three as goals of the New Negro movement, but exam sources may emphasize one over the others.

### Who used the term self-respect in the Harlem Renaissance?

Alain Locke, in his 1925 introduction to The New Negro: An Interpretation. He wrote that with 'renewed self-respect and self-dependence, the life of the Negro community is bound to enter a new dynamic phase,' a passage the AP exam quotes in source-based questions.

### Is self-respect on the AP African American Studies exam?

Yes. It appears in multiple-choice questions built on Locke's 1925 text, and the 2026 DBQ asked about the extent to which New Negro movement objectives were achieved, with self-respect being one of those objectives.

## Related Study Guides

- [3.11 The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/11-the-new-negro-movement-and-the-harlem-renaissance/study-guide/3cv7itK8BhGU4iG4)

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