Harlem Shuffle: Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

The year is 1964 and Carney has finally achieved his dream of moving into an apartment on Riverside Drive. His family’s new home is even quieter than expected. Alma and Leland visit, criticizing the apartment. They have moved three times since selling the house on Strivers’ Row, and Leland has had to move his accounting firm to a more affordable space. Carney’s Furniture is still flourishing in both legal and illegal trade. Now, Carney sits on his new Argent sectional sofa, feeling content. His son, John, plays with a toy dinosaur he got from the World’s Fair in Queens, a truly remarkable experience.

Alma speculates that “those student activists” may have looted the World’s Fair, prompting an argument from Elizabeth. Leland and Alma disapprove of the protests and riots that have broken out in Harlem since a police officer killed a 15-year-old Black boy (James Powell). Elizabeth scorns her parents’ belief in the officer’s claim that the boy had a knife. Carney excuses himself and walks to the store, marveling at the aftermath of the destruction. Stores have been burned down and looted, and it is impossible to tell whether the people on the street participated in the riots or waited behind locked doors. To Carney, the contrast between the fair’s marvels and Harlem’s devastation showcases the spectrum of “American know-how.” Harlem is calm now.

Carney is glad the riots are over, for everyone’s safety and for fellow business owners. Carney’s store wasn’t looted, though he and Rusty kept nightly vigils holding baseball bats. Many people’s livelihoods have been lost, with few insurance companies willing to write policies for Black shopkeepers. Carney thinks of Black forebears who held similar vigils in the South, before moving their families North. Even during the riots, Carney’s Furniture was open, and Carney has an upcoming meeting with a prospective furniture supplier—Bella Fontaine. Marie made a sign for the window which reads “Negro Owned” in the hopes of deterring looters. Carney leaves it up, just in case.

Business is slow, so Carney sends Rusty home early. He gave Rusty a new title during the riots: associate sales manager. Now, Carney locks up and works on a pitch for a newspaper ad. He considers making a pithy reference to the riots, pitching a recliner as “a sit-in we can all agree on!” A knock on his office’s outside door reveals Freddie, clutching a briefcase, checking in on Carney after the week’s madness. Carney asks Freddie about the briefcase, and his cousin launches into a story about being in Times Square the night the riots started. The streets were full of protesters, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), whose members were giving speeches outside the precinct.

Freddie followed the crowd to the station house. Officers instructed people to go home, to which they replied “We are home, baby!” The police began arresting CORE members, provoking a violent response. Throughout this ordeal, all Freddie could think of was getting a sandwich. Carney asks about the briefcase again, and Freddie asks him to keep it safe for a few days, implying rough people are looking for it. He warns Carney not to open it. Despite his reservations, Carney agrees to help his cousin, locking the briefcase in his safe. He thinks of the liquor store owner who replaced his window repeatedly during the protests, wondering when it is appropriate to stop trying to save something that is lost.