Langston Hughes saw in the Harlem Renaissance a growing acceptance of African American writers and culture, creating space for him and other artists to express their identity without fear or shame. The movement’s efforts to garner support and acceptance for the African American identity required first exposing the realities of a segregated society. “Cora Unashamed” humanizes what may otherwise seem like an abstract and trivial conversation to those on the privileged side of the equation. Hughes uses the conventions and craft of short fiction to develop themes that comment on racism and segregation in America.

Personal experiences growing up in the Midwest informed Hughes’s depictions of interracial relationships in rural America, as in the “Cora Unashamed” town of Melton. The strength of this setting lies, in part, in its economic implications. Hughes portrays Cora’s employment by the Studevants as the result of an economic trap, a set of circumstances that keep better opportunities out of her reach. The direct causes include Ma’s poor health, Pa’s alcoholism, and the lack of resources and opportunities in a town so small it has no paved streets or sewage. However, an underlying recognition that racial inequality lies at the heart of these circumstances permeates the story.