Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 41

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Harlem, he would be accused of using derogatory stereotypes."
Ironically, French audiences thought that much of what Himes had
written represented the "true picture of America" (Boucher 43).
In Cotton Comes to Harlem, Himes uses the environment of
Harlem as the backdrop for the actions of Coffin Ed Johnson and
Grave Digger Jones, two black police detectives who are prime
characters in his earlier detective novels. Himes’s vision of Harlem
is a mixture of humorous elements tinged with tragedy, violence, and
cynicism. His political concerns are revealed in his presentation of
the "Back-to-Africa Movement" and the Black Muslims as well as in
the "Back-to-the-Southland" scheme.
Cotton Comes to Harlem
shows the design of the Himes detective novel, with its reliance on
Harlem characters and fast-paced action. It opens with a rally
sponsored by the "Back-to-Africa Movement" of Reverend Deke
(3'Malley; the rally has been organized to raise money from the
citizens of Harlem. Each contributor of $1,000 has the hope of
relocating in Africa. During the rally, the funds are stolen in an
action-filled raid involving an armored car in which a bale of
hijacked cotton has been used to conceal the stolen funds. The goal of
Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones is the recovery of the
$87,000, which they later discover to have been stolen by Colonel
Calhoun, a white Southerner, organizer of the "Back-to-theSouthland" scheme. Calhoun’s purpose is to exploit Northern black
labor by enticing Harlem residents to return to the South to harvest
cotton.
The theft of the funds suggests the exploitation of the grassroots
resident of Harlem, a concern which is present in the remarks of
Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, who are eager to solve the
crime not only because it is as an infraction but also to rectify an
injustice to Harlem citizens. The issue of exploitation by the Black
church is also shown in the characterization of Reverend O ’Malley.
’The action of the novel involves Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed
Johnson’s pursuit and capture of Deke O’Malley. The pursuit brings
the detectives in contact with a variety of Harlem characters in bars,
eating establishments and other locations.
rhe principal female character. Iris, is used by the detective pair
to entrap Deke O’Malley. Jones and Johnson never recover the actual
$87,000, but force Colonel Calhoun, with a threat of cotton "fiber
evidence," to supply the funds in exchange for his freedom. The