J • I _,. ,. . . I . . ' .... .... .. , .. D . 1'11!: . CHUR:BBS . . . . ,.. V"t ... • • · IMfm a larJi right me:ta) with the .u_n, sing, am rt'll1ng b.Ule lie l1lce pua1cmed VCIDI8D wanton viih harvest • . , ·And t<beN 4n the X1ng' 1 HI g m.e, . eat IUIIi e1 te , f1gllre bowecl, 'bf the ·-" "traveller's tootjltepe baet.en' ae ·· the:T go. !b tba taiDted a1r broods tear. Three centuries··· '" , • t-bougbt hal been ra1e1nc and umreill.nc ot - -·'tbJ.t' 'boWI!i4'111•n beait, am nov behold a centur,y nev tor tbe and the d eed. THI , • . PRCJBLBI.I CJr THE '1\riBltl'IiC CEHTORI IS 'l'HE '· at THE c<LCR Lilli. • - W. E. B. DuBoh ill ... SWIB Ml w •1904 .. . . • r , ,, • ' 'IIJi ' the context ot tbe Negro probl.• nei't• vbitee DOl' bl.aclal, tor aoellent reaeou ot . SI'Jit ban the faintest d esire to look l:ackJ ' tlU.t t.h1 nlr tbo.t the past 11 all tlia.t 1111.bs the ' preaeat CQJwoent, and tbll\ the pal't v1ll riiiDidn horrible tor u long as ve · refUse to ueeaa it • • ,, t : r·· •• . .. . • 1 • . I •( . • • r. • ; . !"'
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~·· D .1'11!: .CHUR:BBS . . . . ,..
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· -~~ ~ IMfm a larJi right me:ta) with the .u_n, ··~-·bhildren sing, am rt'll1ng b.Ule lie l1lce pua1cmed VCIDI8D wanton viih harvest •
. , ·And t<beN 4n the X1ng' 1 HI gm.e, . eat IUIIi e1 te , ).~ f1gllre nU8cL~ bowecl, 'bf ~oh the ·-""traveller's tootjltepe baet.en'ae··the:T go. !b
tba taiDted a1r broods tear. Three centuries··· ' " , • t-bougbt hal been ~ ra1e1nc and umreill.nc ot
- -·'tbJ.t' 'boWI!i4'111•n beait, am nov behold a centur,y nev tor tbe du~ and the deed. THI
, • .PRCJBLBI.I CJr THE '1\riBltl'IiC CEHTORI IS 'l'HE '· ·~'PRO!W!:M at THE c<LCR Lilli. •
- W. E. B. DuBoh ill ... SWIB ~ Ml w •1904 .. . . • r , ,, • '
'IIJi 'the context ot tbe Negro probl.• nei't• vbitee DOl' bl.aclal, tor aoellent reaeou ot
. ~r SI'Jit ban the faintest desire to look l:ackJ 'tlU.t ~ t.h1 nlr tbo.t the past 11 all tlia.t 1111.bs the ' preaeat CQJwoent, and turt~.f tbll\ the pal't v1ll riiiDidn horrible tor aao~ u long as ve ·refUse to ueeaa it bones~ • •
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1be purpose of this pa1:e 1a to expreaa gratitude to those vho helped to vrite and to ¢de in the preparation of tbia stud7 guid.e.
·. ' ' To Mba Belen Archibald ot ths Chicaro City Missionary Society for vritioc Chapter l on the /<frlcan Baclwrmgy'o . ·
To Miaa Beatrice Young, Secr etary of the Al!listad Society, an ol'galliation ia Chicago devot ed to the study of Herro History, tor vritinc Chapter 2 .. the ~ve Trade, Chapter 3 on Slaveey, aDd Chapter 5 OD Beconstrw;tirm,._ . To Mr. Sterllnc Stuckey, President of tile Amistad Sociew tor vritiag Chapter 4 oa the Civi '· llar and Chapter 7 on the R!.oe ot the Heqo Protest Orge.Diza"liOiif;- · ·
To Mrs. Louise Wh1 te· for wr11•illg Chapier· 6 on Tbree Alternative Solutions . . . To Mr. Clyde MUler of the Ch·..ll'ch Federatioa of Greater Chicaro· for writiq Chapter lO on Thc~lorlcal TmpHce.tioaa.
To Mr. and Mrs. He:naan Barnett·, Mila l.fari~ Moeniq, l!ra. S, B. Stratton, Miss H1.lda .Qar.p@r., , Mts_, ,Ji:le~n.o,r liaharry, Mrs. Charleallle Rollins, and J.tlas Lillian Anthony for serviq on the Advisory Coad.ttee for the proj'ect. · ' · ,.
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To Mrs. lugaret Burr~hS for her advice Bnc1 for the helpful · resources of the NuseUD of Negro History end ·Art~ ·
~ . . To Hiss Ruth Pfustler to;r • typing the mailuscrlpt.
To the teenagers of Good Sh~r ::J.el'd - Faith Presbyterian Church who provided the ori~D!l inspira tion for t~s project.
Te Mr. Howard N. Me)ter for bis advice and encouragement •
••.••..••••.....•........... , . ~ ~ ···· · ····, ······················ : . . .. . . . This i s a first eiPerlJ!Ient.aJ: edition of this study guide. · We invite all those who use it to send us their critical caa~: meats, corrections or sug'(est·ec:i additions. A revised and coapleted edition is anticipated in t he future. Please address correspondence to:
Rev. Flvard A. White - Director City C~wch Project - United Presbyterian Church Room C 746 West Fullerton Avenue Chicago 14, illinois
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WHr CHRISTIUS SHOUlD STillY liiXDlO HISTOitY
'1'bere IU'O severnl reasoll8 ld:\v RBgro history is o. crucial field ot study t~ Christiarls todqr .. 1. Christians are concerned abOut ~ truth. . Regro b1stol7 ho.s
aeneroll.T been neglected ~ ~ distorted in our· societ,'. O'lll"m popular l!l}"tha pnmdl as a result. There is tot» .. P'VJ]•r J111th thllt Af'rica b a "dark continaDt- in which there lia8 :never been u.v culture or social devel.opnent. There is a~ tllo.t the Jleero l'l1ll essential.q baPPT \Ulller slavery. Tbare i s o. tl;rtb tho.t lfecroes'have never l!lllde 0oD.7 lian'tieant contr1b.lt1on to. history. Christians sbould not be content to let tbeil-· news ot the present dey be abo.ped b)' a f'lWie view ot tbe paet.
2. 'Christio.ns are concerned o.bout persom. A person tizlds hiDselt in relation to the past. Tbe answer to t.tie questionr Wbo AD I c«1es lo.rpl,y trcn our zoelat1 onsbip to hieto17. JQl!es Jklldwin san to the white ccm:nmity, 11I an nOt who )'Oil thitlk I Glll11 o.nd he 1e right. Discovery of vbo the Necro really is con c01:1e 1n large part free disooverinf yho he ~ hils been in history~ Jomee Bol4win soes -further and indiClltes tho.t the wbito I:IOJIIs ino.bllitJ' to o.ccept the llep'o o.a a person is rolll~ to b1.s 1Do.b1ll t7 to accept bhlaelt. Therefore, the stud7 of lfecro bi.story co.y be rev_elo.tory in the wbite Elllll'a oftort to understno:l hineelt o.a 11 persOQ, as woll aa 1n hie oftOrt to understand t.be Bocro 118 a. 'p4U'Son. · -··
• 3. The Christio.n is concerned abollt repenteiioe· and renewal. We I:IUSt
s'bud7 .lfecro b1etor7-in order to taco tr~ the fo.ct tho.t the Chriltio.n church has .otten been less tbGn Christian in ita attitude llJid action where the lfogro 1e concerned. ~ ntter confession llJid repentance oo.n the clluroh wholelleo.rted:W' l:l8lle a new bec1nri1nc in ita ·pursuit of ~uatice o.nd lcmt for all persons.
4. The ~hr1st1:-.n 1e concerned about ccainmion or cCIJCUilico.tion. ~ o.t¥.qJta o."t carnmfba.tion between Nearo o.nd white tllday o.re ph01!1' aM eupertioie.l ~USe they are o.ttecpts to Cti:!MimiCD.tO 0.8 thoup DOtllinc had ever hllppenod. Honest cCI:IIJUnico.tion I:NSt bepD 'bJtaciJIC the ~nts tho.t ho.vo broupt our world to its present trng1c state. Perhllpll O.s we face these facts together wo co.n begin '» cCI!IEIWlico.te o.nd 4..1ao9lfer a recJ. oa:JDOn lite as dOdren ot God thllt baa so long been denied.
lor .the wbito ccxmunity study or Negro history co.n tleO.n tho ~eliV8l"o.nce ,t'roo f'alse condosconeion it it brings to the white I:ID.D the diecovel'T tho.t be ho.& as tiUCh it not core tQ receive .fJ'(I!I tho · Negro 118 be does to give in tho process ot integration. In short, ve I!IUSt understand tho past in order to tnce tho present intelliIODtl.T and bring o.bout a ditf'erent tuture.
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DESICUl OF THE S?UDi
Tbis stlldy guide 1s dl3signed for floxiblo use for young people and adults in vnrious setti ngs . It consists of ten sessions which are as follows:
1. African backgrounds ·,. · ~ .. -. 2. Slnve trade 3. Slavery 4. The Civil ·war ·. • .,. 5. Reconstruction and JiD Crow 6. Three alternative solutions to the Race problet~:
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COL:Praaise t4i.lltant protest
· · lhok' to A!rice: · Rise of Negro Protest organizations
.. · .. -.. the Negro in art, culture and literature
the Negro experiimce the theological signlficance of Negro history
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' . Each session consists of oo introduction,· of a· list of reooroended readings
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which is divided into t.hree pnrts, arXl finnl.ly of a series of discussion questions. The three divisions of recor~nded readings ~n ench lesson correspond to the three divisions in the bibliography at the back of tho study.
Division I--consists of ooslc co-.Jprehensive ~It which are likely to be \isef'Ul througll the ebtire course of thlf. stu:iy. Any stuey group or OJ1T studT· group ledde.r should have at least one of those basic texts . _,
Division U--consists of a basic working library of ~naive , ... · paper backs which tire currently available. ~lost stlldy
groups will prolr.bly'wnt to purc.hase tua IlO.IIY of these paper backs ns possible to use on a ci.rcUl.llt.i.ng basis.
Division m--cons:losts of n cOl:tprehensive bibliograpey of rJateria.ls' . iJbioh are probably obtninable tron any sizeable . public
-· 'library~ .
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The renson for those divisions is' to allow for a.s nuch flex:l.billty. as possibla . ·. in nald.ng use of avuilAble resources for this atOO.y. · · ·.
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The purpoae of the int~oducthn to each section is to set forth the salient . :•. facts concerning tbat .subject, to expose the nost popular ro'ths and to provide· .., the focua for tho· .session. · " ··~
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The purpose of tlie.discussion questions in each section is to raise for thoug~t the oost signifioan. ·issues pres~nted in the read1ng .oaterinls .
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It is the belief of the authors of this atudy that any' Christi.un 'who takes tHe · study seriously will find there a renl call for conni toent in the present struggle for racial justice :and integration. It is hoped th.9.t as the stuiy proceeds that · the r elevance of the ·'past for undarstnnding ·the preS'ent will be cone clear. · ·
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fbi Ald.atad 1a tbe aue ot a sl&ft eJiip on vb1cb tile sl&ftl N'fOltecl 1n 1839. (Il'ODicaUy I •Aaisted11 IU'M "frieoda.hip11 in Spaai1h.) Joseph C:l.Dqus, ~ IOD of a Slerre' LeoDe ohiet, wu one ot 53 Afrlcll.DI captured azd tabn to ltaftllll, Cuba, vbaM t hey ¢.clted up additional caJ'!O, aDd two CubaD planters. ClD tbe pressp betvHft Cube aDd Neu York, CiJXlues emortecl tbe slaftl to break tbe1r Oba1DS ud ga1A tlleir treedoa. The slafta were able to tab O'I'Rr tM sbip, havll!ll Jc:Uled the pUot aa:l capta1D, but thaT realized tbeJ ~a~~t aaft sC..oDe to eau tbe abip back to Atrica. Wltb. sugar O&IMI lmifta at tba1r backs, the CUbaD planters were direoted to sail tbe Af'r1oans ~.
8,y clay tbe plantere sailed the •hip toward Africa, but by Disht tbey 1dled tow.rd lev lark. Hith tbil Ol'ie-crosa route, tbe7 - s ed to laid at a llw York harbor, ~ tbe duped alan"· !'1!:;-e agai1_1 t4lcen captive. A· 1lew ·york j'lli-:e beard the oase ot t.be elafta aa1 decreed that they tile retumed to their m.a, but the Presidat of tM UDltecl statea, Martin Van Buren, dis turbed with tb1a decillon tor t.u ot llddltioaal al&ve revolts, requested tbe Attoraey GeDeral ot tbl tJnited St&tea to appul t.bl 04H to tbe Supr .. Court. ·, '
Vh1le awaitiq the trial, -.o,y liev Engl.GDl abol1t1ord.ata or~zed the A..-iou H1N10DUT Sooi.ety, 1n order to raise f'ullds for tbl elavea1 ..,.ntu.l return to 1M~~
l'\ll"tJJal''lre, an e»oiTeddent of tbe United Stntea, JobQ Q. M••s, tben 73 ,_,.. o141 . &114 vi tb ·a tlal.l career beM rxl bim, c;!U forth to aqua tbe oaee ~ore the SlallnM · Court 1n behelf ot the slaves. .Adana arzued eloquen~ tar nsarq tift !lour a and. I ,.,.,... tnedoa tor the slafts. He atatea 1n b1a d1ar7 $tat tb1a ,.. tbe 110st 'ape-tut IICto ~ b1a lite. ·
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. . ' Tt. .&.noaa Hlsli1111U7 Society •eel tbl r 1 D!o:r of ita tuada to fowd Hftftl · ~ lqro oolleaM, euch N lllapton Institute, Berea Collet;e am, after the Civil"~.': ' !oup1oo C911.... . .·
'lbia •torJ.i vhiob l.1lr.e MD7 lm.portant a8peets of tbs b1stor'f ot toM Jlspo baa 'baeD -;:; ':' WJ.ost" 1n' ~ "'lld.Datrea" ot history is a titt1111 introduction to tbia study t01: . ·~ it contai.D8 tbe -.1ar u.,, · ~,. the Atr1oan ~OWI4 ... the slaw tnde .. • . .. : · tbe •truale t01: t:r.C.oa ••• the abivaleDt res)onse ot vb1ta Jlleric&. u w probe .. ' tb.is tmfoW,,DJ draa rpezobape w oan batter Ul"derstond the~ of .bd.eW (tri-s.• ebip) bet\:f4111 bl.al?)t aQi vb1 te 1n OU2' preaer.:. world - tbe prObl• t.llat (JimDir ,._,_ t 1 · has caUIIII 11 tbe '~cu Dil 9
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ID b1a po.., ·~ Jegro Sp-b of Rivera", Laopton liagbea npruau vbat 1a beiDa 1Donuiagl,r :recopia.S aa an arcbaeol061cal aDd biatodcal fact• Nepooea ot Atnoa oont.riblated to the dne:topr.ent of a no.ient aDd contenporary oultu.rea.
I'ft know 11. ftr1l: I'" kDowD riftJ'S ancie·1t as t !w Wl r ld alld older
tban the nov of .!Ul'UI b:! 00 l i n bualan nina. }'\r aoul bu II'OwD deep .tike th!! ri•. era. I bathed in tbe !Uphrat JB ~ll~.en dawu were 7WDI• I bullt rq but near the Cor.;to llld i t lulled me to sleep. I looklld upon the H1le "ln1 r o.iJoo t he pyramids a bove it. I beard the ainging of ~h:J }lis lias '.ppi vben Abe Lincoln
vent dOWD to Hew Or: *lml , s :xi I lve seen it.a 111114)' bDeCIII turn a1 1 • go?.c.l.et. in i he s\1118et. I•.,. lcDCMI rivera:
Oiriliut.ion dawe4 in tbe Fertij., C;!"c::H:3nt ,,f the Rear !ut wbere Europe, ui& aDd Atnca meet. !Jere repreaente ~hF-s ct tl:o three great grOilpi.Qga of 111111, Cauoaaian, NoJ110lo1d am Negroid, buUt t he fir~:t civilbationa ¢' the .. _., tamil,r. 1lev diaoDftriea are epul'1'1ng new S\'aluationa by acholars of tbe ancient Ehioau traa wbCIII are descended one out of every ten AIDeri cana. 11Th1a :re e•alua on baa ;rie14e4 a aew penpectift on African and bla!r.n h1at01'7. Africa, lo111 co idere4 the Dark CoatiDent, 1• now regerded ., t he place vhere an first reoebe4 llc)lt.. ADaieat Atrioaaa, long considered primitlve o.nd. iporut, are nov l'8'ft&lld u o:reattn OOGtftbutorll to ll§pt1an cirlli1.at1cn and bnildera of pCIIIVf\11 1tatea 1D tbe Suh1u 1 1~ - -
1D • t.U, paiat.iap ul ineotipt.iona tbere u vit.aNa t. tile pari p1.,.s b.r &p o Afli.oau ln tile cr-t o.irillcation of <.IIOient Jgpt. h 690 B. o. 'lallub, t.be ..-ten ot all tbe IU!opian P.t:=.·,•f':ib , aocemed the tbrone of Jcrpt. npza, perit:f 1IU 10 eztAalift aJid bis ( 'nt:!:Ol \."'.8 ::0 a beolute tbat 'Jabarb IVled hialelt tbl •z : WOI' ot ~ Vorld. • • 1..
AltMo'lb tbro1J1baut anoieDt time~ t ":".J.Ge uon:~ tbe IW.e Vall~ kept o •rrtoaUOD open bet.wen hl•ok .Atrioa aal tl: J.in::~.tl' rran0an world, in the KWdla Ape tbe ri" ot %' hn1• pl•O.S a c1 r~~j.:t 1 etvoon Africa aDd Obrilti&D Dlrope. For bwltrecb ot ,-ra interoo\li'le Wilt c:·.:; c!f be·;ween t.be two continenti.
Tbua it w.a tbat bope "diacDYe1·~" Atl-i ca Hhen in the fifteenth and aizt.eenth centuries Pul"t.qeae, Dutch and Er:glis h ehips began to Ell!plore her western and eutera coaata.
A.trioa 1a three tillea aa large a'-l E>o~Npo, but it bas a coaat line a f'ittb ahortar. Atrioa'a oout baa rev gulfs, bays , ca!)~>B or islands, Tbe rivera ot Africa - the
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Bpr , the Congo, the Zambesi - though ~r~e and long have never served the function of transportation' "and ecirimnmi'Cfltion ·between . the-coaatal arlja .lllld the interior of the African continent. The central portion of Africa is a high · plateau rising in the north 500 to 2000 feet and in the south 2000 to 5000 feet. From these central plateau regions, the rivers plunge in rapids and . ca~ra~ts to the narrow coastland.s and the sea. This geograJ11:11 explains IIIUCh of Africa' s destiu;r i.Q the nodern 'World. Africa be:iow the Sahara ws out off from easy access by the 'Outside 110rld and at the s~ time there eid.sted in. the· intsrior- no.'rili'tlll'al · · barJ:ier s tint could give protection from iovar.ion to emerging kingdoms and centers of culture. 5.
The battle of Tenb.dibou in 1591 illustrates the political consequences of this lack at natural barriers. In that be.ttlc the Jrohalumedans puahing south from llor o'cco overthrev tbe last of the three great Hest African s:tates, Songhay. Hith tbe defea~ of Songhq, the ~ea south of Sahara to, the Gulf or· 0\rl,~ea lme'll in the sixteentlf and seventsentll ·centuries .no organization stronge.r trmi the tribe, exposed to the enmity of neighboring tribes. The constant \lllrfare ··or the tribes provided ·at 'this · early time the supply of slaves eagerly desired by the European traders. Tbe European slavetrader arrived on the \lest coas t or Africa at a time when its iDhabitents were least able' to offer effective res istance to his plunder and when the a.ed tor obeap labor in the NeH World was most acute. 6 • • ~:~~-~~-4 . .- .. ::.~t:
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I t is an i r onic fact that the year or the discovery of tba.t .~w World .bJ·Columbus was the year in which the most brilliant ruler of Song.hay; ·Aski.a 'flo~, came t o pover. He encouraged the prosperity and tbe learning 'of•his people, strengthened his empire, and by raising a professional aruq, he left his' people to the enjoyment of peacef'ul purau.its. In 1497 Asld.a aobammed !!'.&de a trip to liecca accOIIp&Died by scholars and officers of state . 11Be and his followers conversed with doctors, utheaaticians, scientists and scholars .. • 'In personal character, in administra-. tin ability, in devotion to the welfare of his subject&,. in open-mindednesa towards foreign influences, and in wisd.1111 . in tbe adoption of non-Negro ideas and institutions, King Asld.a .. . was certainly the e~ of the average_kpp~_'!l;?f.II_!C~ of tbe time and superior to many of them, '" • --
----------------------• .£:. ; l. Franklin, John Hope Fn!!!! Sla~A'~ !e Fre!dog, .pp. 3-4 -2. Hawkes, Jacquetta and Hooley, · Sir LeoDS.rl PrehiatOrv !!!!! the Beei ooirurs 9t
Ciyiliza.tion , pp. 34 and 40. . Sponsored by UllESCO this 1s the tTfit"'vol UIIIe of a globol history pl•med and execut ed frail an international point of viw.
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4. Fre.oklin, John Hope, _.2l! ·~-~! p~ ? 5. DuBois , ~r .. ,E• Burghardt, lll!":Nepro, p. 10. 6. lW·· pp. 153-155 7. Franklin, j!Jl • .!lll.a,, pp. 18-19.
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.3.
SUOOISTm RllD!ItlS Ok AFRICAN BACKGROUll> ... . .
PART A Buic Texts .·· .,
Io ~ Ma,rtlover: A Hiotorx of ty Npsro b :tiPnriea • Ierone Be1111.ett, Jr. Chapter 1. . .
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II. pta Hleverr to Free4CD by Jolin .Hope Fr!Uikl1D"-C.haptera 1,2 and .3. ··. , t .;
Tile f:J!!cin ~ Histoey by Carter G. Wocdaon and Cbarleo H. l'iea e li&Pt:era I, 2 illd .3 , · ·
PART B 1l'l'CIIl Wor)!ipg Li braey 1 • ·i .. .. . I' :t·, . ~. •. . . ' . I~ · .. 'DJt Ston of tbe .American NeGO by, lllll. Corirme Brown-Chapter 2
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II. Tbp· Lppt Cities of Afriga by. Basil Davidson -- 1959, . t.At~ntic, Little Brovn-$2. 25 . . : . •.
in • . Afrioa .a.nd. tbe Africans by Paul Bohannon--Part 2 · .'. . mean f.i-oaeum Sclepce Books, Garden City, 'N•: Y • .,.-1964 •:/1.25
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. ' PAR'l' C FUR'l'HER SUGGESTED READINGS
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. .. I. A Sbgrt IAI!tory. of Africa by Oliver and Pa~e-chapters 1 - 9.•
t,n :· . ~ ;:- ~· ..... II. ~ Tbe·.TJ:u et Culture bf Ralph· .Linton.
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. . III. The Worl4 and A1)1ca by W. · E. B. DuBois '·. ,, ,. • ', .,r
IV • . Mpek N)r Then e!ld Nov by ~~ .. ·E . B. DuBois : ..... , ; • ,lf\ .. ·~··· • l
v. h Irge of Af.tica, 1:v Philip D. Curtin •, : . . • .• ~j
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arten historians claim that t rul"g'reat' centers or culture iii' lioi:-tb 'Africa a~ the Sudan were built by me.n wl:lo we.re not Negroes. Discuss the tollovinc ;, ' ·· ·=:• ... atatements:!!,n~,;llg~ of· t.ha~. claim: :·· :::. _.. ·· -·: .- ,. , T. , .1-.t .
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a. } All. Afrioana except those in the extTe~~~o north • , • were.,·:l!e}roes • .; • ·--,---· "';;:; although not purely black • • • (they} had a larger percentage et Negro , • u ; · .r .. blood than tbat of any other stock, Biased inveati~ator.e referri.nc to ... . these, however, identify t hemns 'rhites if they .ha~· ~o dlac~ . . , ;, ... 1
evidences of advanced culture even if such persons hzve a nall percen~ .. . . : : , ·. e,ge of Caucasian blood. (T~e Negro in 9lr }ti,stor;r. p . 16.) . .. ,, · ...... ;:-:
b,) Great Negro scholars (W. E. B. Dullois 1 Carter G. Woodson, Will11111 Leo lhnsberey) .have insisted that the ancient Egyptians from Henes to Cleopatra were a. mixed race, which pres e.nted the 881118 peyaical typeo and color raogee as American Negroes - a peopl e, in short, who would have been forced to sit on the back seats of the busses in lli.oslseippi. (Before the Havtlowr, p, 7. )
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c.) · Tbe ~tto (U.ing t.lie tertD loosely ·to'i'.Pdtiiilt!' either an)~'t~1~t:· · · · ···ty-pe l:iet'wen wh1 te lllXl black or a mingling of the two) is' all typidaly
Atz;can ¥";t~. bJ,ack ~.and cannot logically be included in the "whiten 1 "' r&de1 es~o\;lly 11ben .Allierican \.18&38 includes the mulatto in .~he Negro · ra08 ·· ,.,;.z.o • , 'J. )' • e..;l.T._• '·
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2. It is otten . said tbllt Negroes in Africa made no contribution to c:uliure and · ~ fag~. to deve~op any civilization. Discuss that statement in the light or tbe_toUowing1
a.)
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t•. • .The use of iron was di ve1oped very early in the econ0111,7 or Africa. ·rra. .Ethfopia to tbe A'tlantic, there i s JDUch evidence of adroitne!JB 1n
• ~- ~acture and .. 1~e of iron. Indeed, -.ey oare1'ul students Of . PJ1!nit;l:~e civinzauons credit the Negroes of Africa 1rith tbe discovery or iron. Boas insists that Africa.1s we.re using iron when Europeans and Aaia,tic peoples we a still in . the s tone o.ge • •.• (Fr!!l Slavm to Fre!!l!!!• p. ?:7). ..
. fl-ea time to .u.~ •. ar:ter 1703 B.c . when a ~'¥ emPire "!as foun:led, Negroes occupied ROsitiQns of ree~onaibilit,r and honor in th8 Egyptian governJ"!..I~~-· Net•rtari, the vU'e of .AbDo11e 1, Egypt ' s gaat .. imperial leader, has been described as a !fegr·o willian ••• she contributed a decidedl7 Negroid tint to her descendants who t~ere to rule aftor Ahmose 1. (From Slavery-· to Fl'eed011, p . 7 . ) . . ..
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1 ~na (in West Ari19fl),vhich was old ,,hen ,,tl?-8 Arabs first ;'rnentioned i~ in A. 0. 800, domi'nated the Sudan for almost 300 years. It flourished 1n· tbe ninth and tenth centuries and reached the peak of its p~rer in
. t.he early per~ of the eleventh century. Tbe r:\llers of Gbana •• • were . · 'fa~oualy.l(eGltl:\Y. (HerDa the ljlyQ.owtr, P· .ff?·~ · . :·
.. :. . :.. .•... ~ ....... ··rn • ,. . . .. 3. Proverhe,.otten give a clue to tbe mind of a people. i~b8t Vul.U. 'would you S!'{ij
to the lli.SCIID and observation contained in these proverbs fr'CIII black Africaf ··
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1. · To .iove a king ill not .~. but f king who loves 10\l .ia ~titer. 2 • . If. thou .art poor, do 1'!9~ ,WCo the .r ich ~ ~by friend~..: 3, ·. It i s better to j)e .poor "ad live,_long than rich &J11i .die yOI.·IIg • 4• . Hh~er, uprks t.JU~t lq)oHled~e, \fOr 1m uselessly. . · · .. ,, ..
• 10.' A butte,tf17 ibat b:vS~es ar,;a;n,st thol!n8 wlp.. te~ ·. bis winss~ U • He who goes tri th a wo.J,f tlill. ~earn to howl. · .._ .
(Tilken from The Negro in 9.!r Histoq, pp. 5l- 52.) ..
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Chapter U - THE SlAVE TRADE
" Nbole regions w~~"7e~o~~~ .. ~~~~;·trib~~Tdi~~~peared. , rape of "· conti~ent seldom if ever parallelled in ancient
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It was the or modern history."
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~ . Though Europeans began to bring slaves into -2\lrope in the le·te 14th q~ntury, tbe slave trade to tlie ne~r world O]?ened officially when Bishop 14s Casas encouraged immigration to the ne11 ~10rld .• by·all~Jing each Spaniard to import 12 ;leaJ;oes . Slave trad monop_olies pe.ssed from one i::Urope:: n po1-1er to another, sometil:les going to t t1e Portuguese; at others to t he Dutoh ~enoe o:r EDgllsh. 1/itb plantations :La tho l,leet llldiea g:rO\dng~-d.n eime and ~~e the slave trade became · a lll\llti,-milH o~ ·daJ.¥a' enterprise. This e"!lterpriSe was simul taneousl.r ho.ving fer l'ejlcbing and devaatat~ ·effects not onl.r on the unha!'PY African transported to the Heu llorld . It also
. .,. pene;trated and erod.ed the foundations of African:civili"'tion ,as -it ' · ~ · ·_ .. engendered by the end of the 18th century unprecedented misel1t1 chaos 1- '-- · • and social <fielocation on the continent.,
- . . - ..... - ··----"' . Africa, the Black :-!other, which bi..a gi;en birtl) to the grea-t ·SonahaY1 ~iali
and Ghana :&npires in lTeste!n SUdan and the Z11llbo.bpie c1Jl~ure in Soqth Africa ~fore the Europeans arriv¢ nmt reeled before the thef·t of. ~ions of her children aDd fell from her lofty status .as one of -the world 1 s -c_enters of culture.
"Africa oo'rore th~ Europea:n., came? · It. tllls neither anarchy or barbarism, nor: unclia.nged and unchanging vil lages . It ~s movement- and splcnd1:1r, conquests a'!~·inp9Yat.ions, trade ~ art • . It vas abov,e all_, ~de- var,ie_ty- and· lllUCh e,~~--n~ tion." 2. . ..
' . . .. ' . · • The slave trade, operati~ on bot h coasts of .tti'rica, h.·.d teken a spiritual
ap. well as peysical toll , hnving encouraged the f.frioan chiefs through bargains, persuasion and much coercion to part ici-pate in theot;tre&l!lful:" tl'aff1:C"'"1;1Cbuman souls; The chiefs, tbi~- pefhaps that their brpt herl!! Jo~ere-.. t .o ~odezvoua Uit.th• lfe11 •rorld ui th slavery sitd.lar to /Lfrica •s; own benir;n.. form ,1·1ere·.in mii~ instances. quite willlng. to cooperate uith tiie ~ ;;\lropean slavere.3
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·.:'Others ohoae death rather· t!.Jan to cooperat e. The slaves for . their part often offered fierce resistance to enslavement. They were coriaequentl.y c~ed before being taken to the coastal porta to be sold. Franklin quotes a trader
w· · wtu~ • remarked that t he slaves were 11 so t·tillful and loa the to leaye thf.ir own l_. :~~'countey that t hey ' o~ten leaped out oi' , lla~~· 9oa~s a.:d . ships ~to t !ie sea J.' < and·ke-pt under water \.mt il they uere dro11ned 11 rather than t o be transported
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acro_s~ ~a .. oceeJl to another harsher f'orll of .slavery. 4
l·!lvit lay aha:l.d for those sbi:'ped frDill tbe. coas-t of .At.rica can. ~t .. '1;18 compal'~ to t be trea_tment that the_ Jews r~cJ~ivGd at the hMcls of ~~Wr~ -:r.be v0)'88e_.9r ": a.d(Ue' Paesa:;e" .was cine _long night.m.tlre of incredible 1o_P.ngest;ion ~ri--1111 11 ttle room to st and, "lie or sit. ·
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"Chained toge ·her by tuos, hallds and f eet, the slaves hatl no room in which to M.ove about and no free<iOI'l to exercise their bo•' ies in the s lightest. n5
Disease and epidenics 1;ere engender&~ by t he congestion and shc.rlcs uoul.d fallen; the slave s hips fran one side of t he Atlanti c t o the other, awaiting the victims of t his d ath passage . Slllallpox and "f lux", an i l.llless whl.ch caused chills, nausea, f ever and pains in the hec~ l and bacl: pl.o.;;uecl prec ',.ically all the slave ships
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The lack of ;Jrcper ventUation ant~ sanitation f acUitiee coupl.EJ4 with the Ull\dllingneas to re~nove the dead ~: · •ecliately, cc.lled forth f11 tb and stench tbllt aicke.ned tile alavers ai'ter e.'· rev ·r.\a!lents in the holcl of the ship. Slave revolts on board ship, such c.s the ll<date.d : ,utiny, l'l&de the slavers teartul to even allo11 the slaves on deck for a breath of fresh air.
Conditions on the ships vere s o bad tba.t the Br1tis~1 Parliament passed laws designed to curb ll1llJ1y or' the excessive practices t\1'~ they vent J.arael.y UMOticed• Eogllsh slavers, .bc.vi~ seized a monopoly of the trade from tbe other Europ•n countries ver o re.-:1ing · the quick proti ta •
the trianale trade developed. Ships wonld leave !leu York with l'lm,coins nnd other goods and trade them for slaves in Africa, exohallge the sU.vea in the West I.ndiea for molaeses and return to Nel.t York.
The millions of slaves that su:vived the a H dle passage were not to survive the paychologie&l and ar>iritlllll rupture that the trade generated.
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Not ollly vere great civilizations shattered but lnunreds of thousands of families were disrupted. The brutal bands of the slave traders were held aloft as poets and mioisters, pollticie.r's and hiatorians serve · to blot the ma:-tory of the past fra11 the minds of theae 90n& and daughters of .lfrica.
11 The :Jest oagn.U'ictmt drar-1a in the last thousand yeua of human bistory is the transportation of ten million human beings out of the dark beauty of their mother continent into the newfound Eldorado or the Heat. Tbq descended into Hell; and in the third century they- arose fra11 the dead, in the finest e "fort to achieve damocracv for the worldng milllona which this 'iorld bad ever seen. It \las a tragedy that be-o..,gared the GreekJ it vaa an upheaval of humanity like t .he Reformation and the French Revolution."
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1. DuBois BLI\CK FOLifTIE:r AiD 10\l p l42 2. tlalle· stein AFRICA :POLITICS Oi~ I' 'DE:'. - D~ :cE p 26 J. Boha!UIU AFRICA A' crl AFBICliliS p lo6 4e hanJcl1n Fr:Oi: SIAVZRY TO FREliDOii s. Ibid p 56 6. DuBois BLACI\ Riil:O;'STRrJCTIOll p 727
PRa; suvmrr TO FRJ:metl Chapter 4
BEFORE THB i :·".I FLOHEn Chc.·.>ter 2
THr: l!EGnO I I! OUR HISTClnY Cha'lt•r 4
B. other RecO!IlDlended neadinga
BUC!( C:JtQO".$ by ')(!aiel : 'o.noiY. and "nlcolm O'owley Viking Press ·-y 1962 ·)6. 95
BIACl< I!OTHDR byBas11 Davidson Lit tle Bro1-m & Co. Boston 1961
THE SUPPR.:SSIOI~ Ol" 'l'f!i!: AF1UCI. SLAV!: TR':D H.E.B. Dullab
Chapter n Discussion Questions
1. H01-1 does the study of the slAve trt·.dc affect the popul.ir belief that the ttlitte' ;-Danis burden has -been. to slO\.,ly undertal:e to civilize the savaees ·that vere brought wer fraa l.irioa?
•. . . 2 . Hhy did' ~ope not invade Africa atld c011quer the.t co11til1ent until after
the slave trad .. ·· was aver?' .. 3. The burning of si:;: million .18\IS .. in \~orld War II ~- cone6Gttu81 to be one , ,
of the .. grl!;?.t "crimes against hunt'.nity11 • -Hou does the slave trarte caapare i.a scope? ; 1
Although African and white Euro!)tl&ns were breught to the English colonies as ee.rl.7 as 1619, the Spanish were bringing Africans to their American possessions . as earl.7 as lliOl . .. B;v. tne mid 17th century indentured servitude gave wa;y to sl.av-eey, Negroes beoaae tlte. logical ~urce for l{J.a:veey since Whites, ~iating upon their right's' aa· Englishmen~ · coUld ·&'lwaYJS appeal to the mother coun.~p: ,or · vanish un- • detected into the llhit• population. Negroes, ho•!eVer, bad ·no· one tO 'wtme7the;v could appeal and Africa seemed; to contain .an inexhaustible euppl.7 of' s~ves, Moreover, Negreee having come !'rom t~pical c~tes, did not die off as easil7 as ~tee llh.en put to work in 'the· tobacco lind .ri.ce fields of the South. • ·
At a time when sla~r;v was waning in the South, Eli Whitney's invention ~f the cotton gin greatl7 inCre&l!ed the need for. s4ves to convert the vast fields ot cotton into llilllone ot dollars in cash for Southel'rJera, .Northam bl\nkera, and"Engliab textUe IMiljfactUNra. Cotton no~ ClnlT became ·a basis for the expansion of' slaftey., but it also laid the foundation sto,nes of the industrial rewl~tion. The labor of the slaves forced trem Negroes f9r more than tl<IO centuries thus was crucial in the develop- . ment ot indul!ltrv ·in the west~m ,JIOrld. . . 1
Negrde$· were re8ardec1 ae prOpel"t1J bl,lt t~er continued to be human beings even thou!~\ not recognized -1us ·suoh, The price.qf a slave societ;v was ' a oollbinatioa of eelfdece1'ltion and; brutal.i.~ which ultimate~ was as destructive for the white>OOIIIDI!Dit7 as . . it ltas for the Negre, .
Self-deception was partj,cularl;v acute in North .America. As 'l'annanbaiiD points out the Latin tradition in South. ~erica bl"'uf,ht with it long standing traditions of elaver;y and slave codes wh.ich in sol!lll' measure pr eserved the identit' of the slave as a
person and lilich did not assign him ·to anot.hcr order of creaturebood.
The egalitarian Prot@etants of North America ~·ever, beUeved that "all men ere cre!'telil e"''lll.l and ervl~1'8d by their c~tor -..tth certain inalienable rights to li 'e, liberty anti the pursuit o·f hapPiness", Such a conscience could 'onlT live.with slaver;y and justify it b;y assieninr. the Negre a place outside the h~ race; hence the doctrine of interiorit;v.
The Civil ~!ar na the final price of' su~ self-deception! . . .
Rewlution is the natural coneequence of stratificati on, The abolition of alavecy in the United States was' cataclysmic and violent because i t seemed eo etsmal, so faultless, just becauae the ~ap betMeen the Negro and the white ··• man had been made so ilnpassable and eo absolute that it could not be bridged b;y aey means of transition,, b7 aey natural growth and adaptation. It was broken b;y violence and war and social cata~Jtrpphe be~ use it ·could not be molded . b;r. other means. Rewlution ns the result because change as a principle had been denied. The fact that ths Civil '!ar was begun on the· iss11e of' eeceesion ·ia·· immaterial.' Secession itself was but a final .evidence of how stratified the Soutbem comt~lex had ~come. It could not change fl'Oill Wit~in, and it was therefore breken b;y force t rom without, The g reat lesson in this expeM.ence · lies in the event~Jal outcome inherent in the tw slave institutions. The principle of manuadssionlpi'C)Vided Latin-American s lavery a means of change. 'Dl•
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denial of·manumiseion encrusted the social structure in the Southam states arut le!t no eecap'e except/, b;y rewluti~n, which in this Cf!-.8e took the form of a civil war. ;z
~ . . . ~ . On.e of the myths that accom.,anied selt•deception in slave societ;v was the belief
that the slave was happ;y and contented with hill lot. This ~h gained popular cur-
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Chapter 3- Page 2 I' "
rency in the Currier and Ives !)rints of happy Negroes claQcing around their pl8n'- · ·!. tation cabins. . · ' · . .
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i . . . . Herb~rt Aptheker tnces the· history of some 250 slave revolts and conspi"lcies
in the &rite- bellum south.. Three· of the JDOst significant slave revolts were G&b-rlel Prosser'!! conspiracy (1000), Deraark Vesey's cons~iracy (1.822), and Nat Tumer1s ,_ revolt '('1$)1) . These revolt& on the Pi'rt of slaves struck fear in the h~s of ' slave iDa stars causing .than to impose still mre rigid meane of controlling the be- ' havior. o~ · slues. Pe~~ps one of the JDOst personal and vi'Vid accounts or the barbarity of slAvery, however, " is found in the Autobiography ot Frederick Douglass. Read for eqmple Douglass• account of his last tlo~ing ilt Chapter 17.
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'llte tact tmt IIII1Il1 Negroes escaped from sl&-..:ery via the underground railro&d ·· · ~· (the rlUmber event.\llllly rea-ched loo,ooo), led to seQ,Uring of Fugitive Slave laws and the wid41spread use of sl&ve ·patrols on the part of slave masters. The successful operation Qf the underground ?ailroqd depeooed greatly on. the cooperation of 1131!1-pathetic lfliite!l, particu~rly in tlie North, AliiDng thl.lse white allies were Levi Coffin, PresiCient· of the underground railroad; Calvin FairbanKs, who traveled in the South in order to free slaves, and John Fairfield, consider:ed to have been one of the mst , daring of white conductors Ol'f the railroad. There ~ere a:t least 3,200 .active worker.s. on ~'! underground railroad;· perhaps foremost among 'them was Harriet Tubllan l!ho ·
return'tid to the SoutA 19 t:imes to free more than 300 ot her people. ~iilliam Still Who hiJDaelt .. had escaped froJil slavery was an outstanding conductor also.
Referring to the underground, John Hope Franklip has' written: "Hot only' north-· erners ~artj.ci~ted in its ma.n&F.ement, but southern White~ and 8 ogroes -re &IDI?ng · its mo&fl val.uab:).e engineer11 and conductors, and all the 'passeDgers1 were Negroes desperately anxious to get away .from the'·peculiar institution of the South. 11 3
Some of the revelations a.f. Christianity and the Church' during slavery are not . exactly pretty. As a slave Douglass observed the conversion of his master a~ a camp _'
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meet~ft8: . . - : . -~·16 • • • • • "If he has got religion,"thought 1, "he m.ll emancipate his slaves; ' or, it he sh,ould no't ao so much as this, he will at any rate behave towards us more kindly, and feed us JIIOre g-eneraously than he has he::-etofore donep" Appealing to 1117 own religious experience, and judging lQ' ~~ster by what was true in 1111 om case, I could not reP,Srd him as soundly converted, unless some ..such .good results followed his profession of t~eligion. But in mJ expectatio ls I was doubly disap-: ' ·" · · pointed: Master Thomas'~" Master Thomas stUl.J. -; ·· ·
. Perhaps the full impact of hu Jll&ster1 s conversion caJile to Douglass when he for.d a Sunday School class for !ellew ~!laves only to have Master Thomas appear armed With a club to brel!.k it up. 'nro mytlt of inf8Tiority coUld never be perpetuated if· tl'le slave learned io r ead and understand the Bible. ·
l'/hat fs most dist.u.rbin~ of all however is that churchmen should .have stooped to defend the baibaroue institution:
Letters,, spe~~hee, and pamphlete literally rained down upon the people of the North, · remptding thtm of their constitutions~ dut:r to hunt down and ret11rn to bondage runaway slaves. In this the prea!=hers "ere not much behind thl! press and \Xilitic~rs, especially that cla.ss or· preachers knom as Doctors of Div-
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Chapter 3- Pase 3 ,,
ity, A long.Ust of these eame forward With-their Bibles -~· ~hp_w t~t , neither Christ nor his .holy apostles objected to .returning fugitive.a ... to .slav- . ery, Now . that that evil day.is .past, a sight of .tJlQJHt.S!!JmOJ\11 wol.lld,. I doubt not, bring the red blush of 'shame 'to the cheeks of many, 5
,. .. -It is interesting to note tMt the present day debate metween violent and_non-
violant methods was present .among the 1\bolltionists: - ·• · ·
Speaking at an antislavery convention in '3alem, Ohio, I expressed thie apprehension that slavery oould only be destroyed by bloods.be!i, ~when .I was . suddenly and sharply interrupted by my good old friend Sojourner Truth With t he question, "Frederick, is God dead?" "No," I ans~tered, "and because God is not dead sl4very oan only end in blood," My quaint old sister was of the 'Garri:lon school of non-resistant s , and was shocked at m;r .sanguin&:ry doctrine, but she too .became an advoctte of the sword, when the war for the maintenance of ~ Union W&,ll de-clared, · · '
. . . . It is difficult to determine accurately just how many human beings were the
victimll of slavery, At the time of the Civil :;ar only one eighth of the approximately 4,000,000 Negroes in the United States were free , Durin~ a '?eriod of . .'oye~ .. b0.. 11\ln.- .•. .l _.
dred years in. our history slaves ~rere bought. and sold like cattle, families were · broken up, liOlllen were vioiated by their masters, men:·were denied their manhoOd; children were tom from their mothers, all without any recourse to protection by the law,
Only when the full effects of thi& prolonged crime are understood can we bend the necessity of the Civil ~lar and t he tragedy of Reconstruction,
. ; . . ·. l , lolanumission refers to the liberation of slaves, 2, Tannenba\1111, Slave !!!!! Citizen, pp, 109-UO, 3, Franklin, Slaveq to Freedom, p, 256. ; 4, Douglass, p, 108, 5. Ibid., p , 279~ - · 6. Ibid,' p': 27?. . .·
Recommended Readings
Part I. General Texts: l, From Slaverz to Freedom. Franklin, Chapters 6,7,8,10,11,12, 13,15. 2, Before the Ma7flower, Bennett, Chapters 4, 5,6, 3, The Negro in our History, Woodson, Chapters 6 through 2), 4, The NeBro in the United States, Chapters 2 through 5,
compre-
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Part II. Current Available Paperbacks 1. The Story o f the American r,egro, Ina Corinne Brown, FrientU!hip Press, :>1,50.
Chapters 3,4,5. 2, Documentary History, Herbert Aptheker, Citadel Pr eas, N. Y. 1962, )2,25, 3. Let t.iy Peonle Go. Story of the Underground Railroad, Henrietta Buckmaster, 1941
Bea.con Press, 1959. 4, Slave am Citizen, Tannenbaum, Vinta,.e Book, 1963, .,1.45. 5, The Lire and Times of Frederick Douglass, Douglass, Collier Books, N.Y. 1962, ; 1. 50 •
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Cha~ter 3- Page 4
6. A!perican ~l egro Slave Reyplts. Aptheker, I ntlemational Pub, , j 2, 25. 7. Free Negro in Slave Era, Charlotte i'orten, Collier Books, N. Y. 1961, ,;> . 95. 8 , CrUSade Against Slave17, Louis Filler , ·Harper Torcbbooks, j 2, 25. 9. Anti-Slavery Origins of the Ci vil •: ,.r, Dwight Drumnon, U, ot Michigan Press,
1959, >1,65. . lD. The Militant. South, F~lin, Beacon Preas, 1964, •;1, 95, ll. La:r •;y &J.rden Down, Botkin, 0 . of Chicago Press, 1961, .1 , 65. 12. John Brown, ~J.E.B. DuBois, Internati onal Publishers, l ,C)62, }2, 25.
Part III, Other Selec~ed Readings; 1. Anti Slavea liovlll'leilta in Amer ica, Dwight Dwuond 2. The Ab91itioniete. Louis Ruchames ~ . Wendell PhUlips~ I.rvin~ Bllrtlett '· 4. Thaddeus Stevens , Fawn BroSf.ie 5. A J ohn Bro'1taReader, Louise Ruchames (Ed.) 6, Thunder at :roers Ferr;r, Allan Keller.
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7. The Bold 8re.hilliils, Lawrence La,.~er 8. The Masters and the .Slaves, Gilberte Freyre,
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. ~ . , . ' Questions for Disc98sion
l , Is it right to classify John Brown, Nat Tum er, and Denmark Voaey with Patrick Henry and Thomas Jeffers.on as heroes of the struggle for Amer ican demcracy? "•
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2. Do you thillk that attempts to give slavery a Christian justificati"ln actually 111ide · · ' slavery more demonic? ·
3. h'hat was the impact of slavery on the Negro family?, on the Negro man?, on ,the spirit o f the white slaveholder?
4. ~lere there any positive or creative results of ·the era of slave~?
5. To what extr:nt was the drivinv, motive in the institution ~f s':i~i~if:f·ec~~C.? ---To what extent does the same motive govern the enforced second cl ass citizenshfp 'or· the Negro today? '
As in earlier \l&rs involvins the united St;.tes, the llegro participcted 1n the .. ' Civil ~lar, Frederick Pouglaa.~, t1Je ra.ther or· t.h,e:·t!8gro ,revolt 1n tbe 19th century, insisted trou the outaet that ~t~ .~ble JU111" was the beat defense a.gai,nat the am or the slanhold8((~ . . ·:·
"Liberty von by vld.te men vould lose ~ ita luste.r. 1-lho voul4 be hee tllaluelns IIIUIIt strike ~4e blow. • • .
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Thouah Negro readiness to engage in ~ uar was svident fr«J tbe~outee.t, it liU•not until the :&aancipnt1on Proclamation that Negroes tougtitl Hith the sanction ot the PecleNJ. sonrnment. Their 'enlist.'"lent· was born of m111tary necessity in the face ot a possible confederate victoey. The Proclall\ation. isaued at r.ddn1gbt on the last da,y of 1862 applied o~ to areas controlled by tbe Confederacy. Its iiiU&IICe qabol.ised the fact that the v ar had becOIDB one to hee tbe slaves eillce victOI'T · . s..-1 UDlikel.T as long as Negro par~cipe.tion was not pendtted. ·
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Prior 1D tbe proclalllat1on ' tile Lincoln Adm' n1stration had asserted that ita war aiiDa were to maintain the Union and the Constitution, The Ac11111nistration teared tbat tbe use or Negro troops trom the north .would raise t he issue of slaverY, an issue which Lillcoln wanted to avoid, Moreover the feeling was widespre&d thet Negr oes were not intelligent or independent enough to make good soldiers. The 1ea.nhood of Negroes was still l:le1n(J questioned despite illlpressive records made by ~letP'o troops in pre-'f'ious 'tiU'Io • 't . Hben the long await*'- hour c:ame Douglass urged "llan of coi~ to Armel" Hith tbe . isiiU&DCe of the proclemation it became svident that the North's Jnost naging problaa •( .. d\ll!ing the first two ye;1.rs of th,!l war - tlu! problem of adquea~ IIIBJipcwer - was to ' be resolved, ·. · r • ·
IV llaroh, 1863 Lincoln 1s thinking on the use of legro troops had crystallized into ·, -': a definite positive fom: · .-" ..
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"The bare ·eight of 50,000 armed and drilled l:>J.ack aOldiars upon t he banks or the llississippi would end the rebell1on at once and who doubts that 11e can present toot sight if ue l:A.lt take hold in earnest." (To Governor Andrew JohnBon, 1~, 11363)
"'lbe cDl.ored populatien is the great available and yet uiiva.iled force for reetortnz the Union •••• . to now avr-il ourselves ot this element or force is very illport.lnt if not indispensahle.Q
(To General Banlca, !-Brch 29, 1863 )
11Ge.neral ThCII:las has gone again to i.iissiasippi 1dth a view ot raising cOlored troops •••• I believe it is a resource which if viaorousl,y applied now will soon close the contest. 11 (To General Grant, August 9, 1863)
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Secretary or the Navy, Gideon P. llells stated, "There is an unconquerable prejudice on the part or £1&117 vbites against black soldiers. But all our increased lllilitoey strength now ccmes frcm them."
Before lfegro enllst.aent began, Negro troops had served unofficially in the 1-Jar under Generals Butler, HUnter and Phelps . The total or regular Negro troops enlisted in
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•..;;..13 war was 136,0l7, At the war' s end Near' tru ps num~ered ~.3,i56 in i49 regiments . 36.& .7 NefltoeS .fell i p be.ttle. ·Restilar Negro t.r.oops engaged in 251 battles. l!o•-e than a ,third of the U~on Navy ~au · COIIIP.osed.'of Negroes, Twenty one l~egroes won tb~ C ongz;essionail Hedal · bf Honor, . •
.. . . \ - ... Though N~#~ · ~roo~ returru:nB to the north (5J,OV0 .nor:thern Ne-groes participated on the Uriion side) were to enjoy increased resp:·mt on t,bf part of uhites a11 a result of their mill t< r y val!>f, · Negroes r eturnin:{ to the South ~Jere to met~t w1 th hostile receptj.ons '·'~hich indico. ted the perilous t.imes . awi ting the frelldml!n <luring Reconstruction, · • •
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Not until Juli' l864 was tho ~ ot tlearo arod wh.i:"'a troops equalized, Until ~n .. white privates receivocl $13 ,a. month', sergi!E,Dts . ~;:U, 8nd chaplains ')100. All Nel¢bes received G7 a ~~oonth•, ~ t • • · 't .. . .. .. . . . .Ht boug)l the' ~onfederacy enac~ ~ Negro s ol <Me:.• bill which proilised f~edom to slaves fighting fo.r t.he·CoQfederacy evideil"e ba:~ not been found of actual participa-tion br l~gro 'troops in··~ ol the south's military campaigns . .. . :;.. · .· . ·
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\ . HClrbert Aptheker has lll'itten that 11a qt!IU!t€r of a mi lli on I«i~ meri and ~n l abored . , • as teamstez:a, n~sl's, ·-coolta, turt:l.flcatio~ builders and pioneers while nm.ny more served .-as, gtii!ies, 'spies .and' scouts , 11 •• , .
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Hith the near1y ;2oo,ooo Jle.rtiCipants in tho Union am;y and:. JO,OOO 'in the Nan·, : a total of almost halt a million NegrQ people. v<rre involved in wbat vas for tbem a wa.r of liberat ion fro.-~ the Ql,ltse.t. } o' '
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Volume 3 , No. l Hintel' 196~, p. 16, · · · .· '•
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ClllP'mR FIVE - JW:O!!STRD'CTION AND THE EHERG.~'CE OF JDf CRil~
·~t there is no' question, now, that Congress di C: a monstrous thinr, and cCIIIIdtted a ~t political error, it not a sin, in thg cr f'ation of tbl.a DtF ·•leotorat..· r4't':· vaa a great wrong to civilization to put the whit a race of the South UDd.er the dcm!Mtion of the negro race, Tbs claim that. tb€rs is nothing ih tbe color of ~ , .. .,., 1Jr:1n tr0111 the point of view of political eth:l.cs is a great sophiiiDI. A black skin •""I aemberebip in a race or men which has never of · its~ succeeded in subjecting. passion to reason, has n•vur, ther efore, created aoy civilizatlo'n ' or ··a.ii7~idm;·nl. • . •
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...... . ·- . ·-- ·-- ···-~-· . .. ' . ... . In these words or Profe~apr.,.Tobn w. Bur~ea!', \;'rUing at tli6 'f.Urn of tlie c8li~-· , ·. ti'OIII Colulllbia University; ve see how prejudize caii 'alatort· the writd:tft bl'"liiii'f.'ory, Americans have been brought up. on t is disto::ted view in high s chool and ,ev-~n 1:n ''i~~ ·.: · college. Nov we IIU8t begin alJ. over again t •> understand what real.ly happened.
Dr. DuBois warred· against thcui'e traditional bl~JtC>r:14iiii',ji.i''eif1t'as 193' · Iii · hii; Blank Recons~tion am, since. "-be 0 4Q~ f! : a ~e~l t.~rs.-. bave jo~ned the ticht. • -··- ··--·-·· .. ··- . _ ......... _ ... -. - -···- ·· .... .. ..... .. . . . ' .
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Dr. DuBois asserts that the objec~ o{ writ~~;; the histo%'7 of Recoilatruction it n .. • simply to establish Trl;lt~, on t! Mob ~gM .: n the fUture may be_ ~1~.=1!::
The Truth of Reconstruction begins with the t ask created by the Emancipation Pr~,~tion of 1863. This task ws to build a new sociel order not baaed o.n slavery. This task was thpeatened: fr0111 the. s't!.r.t by, the t'&111lt!l.htg q1,' the Ku IO.ux 10.~ ~.,1865 1¢ . by the Black OOci"s?.WnicK subjec~,.£fie Uesro' t~· l~~~tiiig'relitr19~oiil .. eiif.!clill¥· "i th reapect to Job' opportUnities w··~granc}•.·--·'T!l!"'J'rii.,Mri'il ' ~Uiiii 'fiiii!equate to handle tbe lDilliY problems of the fou:- mil U :>.l. ltfegroes 1n the South, 1'be Southem states refused to cccply with the Civil Rights billa, Tneir violent reactions to such laws was seen in tvo riots of: 1865 "b.~~by aearl.7 one hwxired Jfegroea were killed and nearly 300 injured, Congress ·reauzed it IIU8t overrule the authority of thet-~~~i4!D~ andA~ tbe. Reconii~C~~on 4ct of 1867 it set up five , llilitar)' diatric~ .in iJie s 0!4tb• ·~ . · ~ ,.. . ·,; ·:1 ~-•··· '·'
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. _,. ..... . . . .. , The l.:illtar)' Reconstruction, vetoed by ·President Johnson, required tbe southern statee to tom CODS:titutional O~~n~!OII!J. of. delegatee ·eleote.d by .al). -<ule c1Uie1!8t . except tboee disf'rancllised Contedera<-..e leaders, and to adopt tbe l4tb AMIAieDt. Tbe atatea ~ .. t!Jen be ·al;l~ed repre~entation irt eo~eaa. 'lbis l.867Ilep~tion WS tbe greatqt teat qf. d-O~Cy in 't:bls nation!O-But, a witnessed l:zr ~ ~-tioraal. hiatoriau, tbe 'Aiaerican color bllndspo·:; doCIIed tbe axperiaent 1a d.-oonc1.
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Vitb the ballot box gu&zi!ed ·qa~nat tlie IO.an lr; F.oderal troops, both white all4 black, tbe Rllooii4~C.AAon gover11111e.n.~~ v,~ (ey . J.S.~$}i~ • position ~o :.nl:p•tld the Scuth tbl'oulb 4eiiCCrat1c mec:~~ . : .$eldo'"' ., ;ho".le·;er., are these B8conatructiOD gowvo- '· MDta 4iecwlaed DD the basis of merit, Rather; bi storiana delignt in OODviDciDI \Ill
that lep'o auttl'~e produced goverllii!Snts vronght with extravqence, i.cJIOralloe, 1DCCIIIIIeteDC7 and dishonesty. Yet, one thing the South teared more tban Mepoo di.ahoMaty, incaarpetence and ignorance vas Negro Ilona sty, knowledge and etticieDC)'. !be lattel' vaa evidenced in such uen as Franc:b 1·, Cardoso, secretary of state 1868-72 aa.1 state treasurer 1872-76 in South Carolina, Jonathan J. Wright, m•ber of tbe South Carolina supreme court for seven "oars, P.B.s. Pincbt.ck, LleuteDADt Gonrnor and Goveraor, for forty-tbreo days, of Louisi.azla, Jonathan c. Gibbs, secretary of atata 1.868-72 and superintendent of education 1872-74 of fior14a1 alld the I1111D vbo represented their states in the national Congress, 4.
What did these Reconstruction goverments, comprbing both llegro aod 'Wbite legislator., actually do? They allowed no racial restrictions on franchise, set up laws
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regarding finance, the building of penal and welfare ins~~tu~'?~; n~. roade··-am-;··· perhaps, most important , established the first system of univel'sal public education in southern states , ' '
~ !hen we spea.k of the Reconstruction period following the Civil Har, we have to keep in mind that ue refer to a s.hort twelve years frOl:l 1865 to 18??. By the mid- l8701e the Republican party 11as disintegrating iu the South, Northern 111am))ers of Cqi:ip-WI•a, "who uere responsible fc r the 13th, 14th and· 15th amendm.enta·:aoo. tbll setting up of military districts in t he South, -..iere becom1J:i8- t'nvolved in the corruption of ~nt1~ administration and generally losing faith in the crusade for -the Negro, Coneequel!U,y, Ne3J'oes were frequentl3 threatened 11hen a-ct8Jnilt41g to vote sioce" the Klan alone w.s supervisina many elections. The!?- , in );377, ·. the 'final end of Reconstruction was brought about by the famous He~ es-Tilden CouprOilliae, Ill the presidential election of ·thill · yeer, Hayes, Republics!, ,needed 01:e more ·~lectoral vote and the Southern Democrats, greatly in need of fed~ral ald fOX' thei r eeonOJIIY, agreed to return this vote 1f the federal troops were r eruoved fl'Oll! the South,
i'egroes did continue tc vote in the South until t;he l~'s and 99.~,!3, .. 'but ... itl <M~ere4J= : ing numbers and at the will of tha sr..all ·!Southern white?.'JIUng-Cli~ · . .HoWever-,- tor-
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a brief pariod follouir g Recol?stof'lC~ion· !l-Oor Hhi'tes and lfegro'es came together and derJanded 3reatly needec econo_!Dfc .reforms.. The ruling elite threatened the poor whites wit~ s,ocial: oqr:ality i.f they demanded econcmic equality: am, consequently, the alliance ~tas forgot.ten.
In tlle 1890's the South, reunited Ullder the banner of white supremacy, eliminated . the •regr o fron1 voting '1::7 l·tritj,ng new eona'l;itutfons, enforcing literacy teste 'and . . pol.J:· taxes . Thua, we see the 'beg1.tlnings of se-;re:!rtion or Jim Crow which is simply to assign the Hegro to wlib.t. the South considers his "proper plaoe, n This system included segregation of public transport, waiting rooms, theatres, boarding-hOUlles, water fountains, libra1·ies and schools,
In this same period.; ;tlie Klan opera~.' in ·the ·tolft di~· manner to assure whi·~e ., eupr emacy and segra~tion''Snd to insure tJI;:.t Reconstruction w04ld never occur again . i, on Southern soil. A llegr,9 \Tas lvnohed. every t11o days during the 1890' s tor such . . . reasons as seeking a job',· testif'ying in court, attem•;ting to vote, not removing his
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hat or not saying "Mister" to a uhite qn, IT the .Negro was not lynched, he would be arrested and s eat tc cOunty chain ganc;s to build levees and railroads , It is h~ 1 this experience that 1·1t see the :nergence of cbaiQ-gang songs, ~ch aa "Take This , Hammer" and the falllous ''Fllu~s u. 'L
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1, Burgess, John 1/, Bfoonetructioni,!he Constitutioq, p . 133 2 . See Reconstruo~on illllr. the C:l,vil !JU by Jolu) Hope Franklin :;, DuBois, H. E.B. m,~;:_ BAcons·~~2Q1 p, 725 4 . See 60 Yean i!! .. .Qgs-.P.~ess a!,lli 28 Cut by J. H. iloseley ,.
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SOOGIS'l'!D R&DIOOS - RmOi'STRIJCTIOlr & JIM CRCW •• ..
1. 0 mit" on the following excerpt frCIIIt a fareuell address of a wh1 te officer to lfegro troops itl the Onio~· ~· ~t the close of the Q).Vil Har in the light o£ whit happ-ed.: ai'te~: .. : . , . • . . '
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. or~ n flow that you are to lay aside your arms, and return to the peace-. · tul avobatioDIJ of. lite, I adjure you, by the aasoeiationa and history
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teelinss of hatred toward your former masters, blt to aeek in the
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paths ot honesty, v1rtue1 aobriety1 and i.ndustry, and b.T a willinc obedience to the latnl or 't.&e lind, tO gi-0¥ up to the full stature ot AMrio&!l citizens . ..._ T,be church,, the school-house, and the right tor-ever to be free .are not~ seeur~ -'to you; ~ eve~ prospect bet ore tau . . iB full of hope s.nd encoura gement. Tli!!i ,¥:tfio~"Juarllnte"1 to :rF.'· tun:-;,. protection and justice, and ;vil,l :r::equittl. fl'om you in mum .taM~ : ~·pact ' .. tor the laws and or..lerly deportment llhich will prove to eveey· Olle .. your right to all the ;wivileges of f reemen." (Am I4.fe pp. 278-279).
2. COIIII8nt on the follolring statements:
Negroes were unfit to vote during RecoDIJtruetion.
The Black Codes and the Ku Klux Klan were merely the South 1 s Datural reslstanee to the imposed inefficient soverlllll8nts.
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CHAPTER VI - THREE ALTERNATIVE ·soLUTIONS TO THE RACE PROBLEM
In the decade of the Civil War the dominant theme in the Negro community vas the hope of freedom; ilmued~ately fellotdng the war the preoccupation turned from visions to the hard relil.ities of the new life. Br the end of the century and in the first decades of the present one, there was fo~oed on, the Negroes a ~ew ~ of subordination, grounded in segregati'on and accompanied ey flagrant del\ia.u-4 his rights, often in the tom ot terror. This period was coincident 'With a new age of colmlleroialbm and e~on i n the United Sta-tes both ipternally , as it became more industrialized and ~teyJ and externally, as it sought both new markets and prestige abroad by an enlightened imperialism, often w1 th the veneer of the "white man ' s burden" • ·
In the context of these baffiing and regressive developnents tvo Negro leaders came to the forea Booker T. Washington, the astute and publicly acknowledged sPQkesman for the Negro in his efforts . to adjust to this new: age of hostility; ard w. E. B. DuBois, the impassioned voice of the Negro ' s reluctance to accept his 'segregated positioo. ·· _
BOOKER T, WASHINGTON
Contexta The l(ar bad' left the. entire South in d.ire economic straits, and exposed the lack of aey system of eduoation for whites or negroes, all at a time whe.n new sk:l.lls for the growiilg il¥iustrial opportunities ·vere needed. Also exposed was the heri tags of slavery in the ignorance B.nd pover ty. of t.he Negro and the e.rosio'n of his independence and initiative , Such was the failure of Reconstruction, and the success of the Whi :.e counter-revolution, that toward t.he end of the century t.he only signs of visible improvement f or the Negro were the .schools which bad been begun in many areas br northern philanthropy and foundations; these became all the more crucial as they were the ooly r ecourse open to him.
Po frcp Slayeqa A reading of this autobiogr&pey gives a very r eal flavor of the man and his thought, as \Jell as an insight into the conditions of the times. It chronicles his childhood as a slave; his emotions at freedan; his sube,equent struggles to gain an education at Hampton Institute; and from there to the founding ot biB own Tuakegee Institute amid unbelievable obstacles ; aBi f1na!1y his emergenoe as the great comprCIIII:I.ser between two increasingly hostile worlds, Washington faithfully retlected the s pirit of the times in his incessant moralisma, and good. advice aBi his ar,ratio Alger outlook that an. 1J¥iividual oan overcome obstacles and rise ey himself, helped along by Cultivating all the Christian virtues ,
Ao ljl:iucatora He \·lAS preoccupied with the idea that the Negro's success depended on his bei ng useful, on proving to the white that hieeducation would be useful to bot.h. This was the rationale behio:l his am!)hasi s on industrial education; at TuakegM the first steps ~1ere not studying books, but leerning how to work with one ' s bands, and developing good personal heb!ts . His education always had moral overtones, and he gLoried in the strength whiob Negroes would gain fran overcoming obstacles. (lJil f):qp ,S] ' Y""r P • 27) .
Io all this Washington refiected a trend to industrial education already in vogue. This was the era of industrialization, aoo it was this education which would at- . tract northern philanthropy and be acceptable to the southern white . Also the economic realities were that Negroes needed jobs . Critics felt that \olashington was merely giving the Negro menial sld.lls which would encourage him to remain in a subordinate role~ . but WIU!llin~Gon answered_,_ "~ _plead .tor .industrial. education for
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the Negro not because I vant to cramp him, bl.l.t because I want to free him." (quoted in Meier, p. 98. ) In the end it vas a question of emphasis bec;ause most negroes agreed both industrial and liberal education were necessary.
As Preacher ot ·.Econrp1 c Propperitv and $eJ.t-l~: Here again Washington reflected ' the commercial18111 and individualism o£' the age. He a.1wa,ye felt the Negro1 s rise depended on .. their developing a substan~ial pr opertied class of landowne:n arxi businesllllll!ln. The .Negro himself ~~~ mainl$ r esponsible for his -own rise. This emphasis on selt-help meant on the one band blaming the negro for his present condition, and on the other 1 an appeal to his racia.l pride. Waahington wae ~s ready to tell about the negroes vho bad an organ 1:1 their J.iving roaa and owned only one fork (Up ftr; SlaJ!n, Ch. 7); and he vas al•<~ays r eady to add that any Negro who developed intelgenoe, and virtue, and economi c :lmpor1.anoe would soon gclll respect and rights . ;
Ap Conc111ntor with the Wh1tefi<>JP"9'ni.Jil.:. Wasbington 1s rise to power vas marked by his famoua Atlanta. speech in 95 in which he said, 11In all things purely social we can _be 48 aeparate ae the five fingel'S 1 yet one as the bard in all things essential to mutuol progreee.n Thus political and civil rights were of ultimate rather than
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iDPDecHate importance. He repeated constantly his love of and faith in tile southern . whites, and his gratitude for all they were doiui. In this same vein he was against -'··:· _ .. protest: mwe have a right in a conservative~ sensible manner to- enter our cam-plaints, but ve shall malce a fatal error if we Yield to the temptation of believing that mere opposition to our wrongs will take the place of progressive constructive action. " (quoted in Meier, p .• l07). Indeed, o.s conditions worsened his concillatoey . gestures 1119rely increased - w1 tnees his remark in Up From Slaym tba t the Ku JQ.ux . Klan no longer exists, &.D:i 11the fact tha,t sllch ever existed is forgotten by bo~ races. There are fw places in the South now whare public sentiment would perait such orgnni!l!ations to exist. !I (p.55). This statement ws made in 190.3, the saae
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year in vhich there were 10.3 lynchings. . _..~·- ... . . .. ···-SUIJI!!I!lrY: In drawing together a fair pi cture 'Jf Washipgton it would seam on.e has to say two things: Oo the one hand be reflected hill time as well as shaped i"t; he vas reelietfc &bout the conditi ons and needs of a Jllajority of the southern' negroes; in maey hidden ways he did wor k to lessen discrilllination; he saw his educational and econaaic programs as • rely first necessary steps for the Negro. On the ot.her haod, he was incredibly naive in accepting the current myth that the f'uture was in one1s own handa, especially in t he Negro1 s case; he ~s unaware of the economic realities of the new industrial order in training negroes to be artisans 1 and in urging them to remA1 n on tha farms; be encouraged the ~ te ccaarunity in their desire to see the, Negro as inferior; .finally, his desire for personal pover caused him to oppose any Negroes. who disagreed 1-1ith him.
W.E,B. DuBOIS
DuBois vas, in Jl1B.llY' ~s 1 f. perfect f.oil :'or 1-/o.shington' s failures . He began writing at t he -close of the century vhen most intellectuals accepted the ideas of inborn racial differences. A northern born and educated Negro, he began ae a sociologist in PMladelphia1 and later vent to Atlanta as a professor. Up until 1900 DuBois accepted Washington's beliefs, h~wever reluctantly, but the deterioration in race relations and Washingtcnls abuse or his po\lers, led him to an ope.n criticism in 1903 . During these sBIIlS years a radical movement of protest was shaping itself among a · fev of the more educated Negroes, acd DuBo~s soon became their
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aoat o.rtiaulnte apokellllllllo He stepped forward 11ith his eloquent book of essaye The Sopl.p of §look Fp7k1 which included a formo.l critique of Unsbi.ngton, (Ch. 3); sociological studies ~-;the.·~oeat pz.eaent condition i.Jl .tbe rural south, (Oil. 7 It __ .:_..!~-8)} an i nciaive stu.ST ot.· tM·~F~(a!:Bli'eau, (Ch.2); and a moving piece o.bout lJi: .·,>!: •(,.,.. the dea.tb otl.bie ' intont' :aea;l:ut~ ·.his ni'HV aottem!d b,r tbe· lmowled~e tho.t now.l\is •·. _,. l:. t ·<:· son vould net,7.ha..,e: ta fJl'Ov :up::in· this ·a.u.am ng -errrirODIIIent. · '· ·
AI :Muco.tor: He tried to' reoolioile.::tae tva -.duootienal tre!ld8 of the day: leo.rn- · iJ!C Q tr::de, o.M·l~raing •.to uve;:ii brOad cultured life. He fel't the lnOk of''ID61-lege opeDings 11ir Negr04ts ·wu untptuna;te both .for its own. w.lues o.r4 ·because 1't wo.s oeoes&MY to develop on indigenOus l eadership. As time •paased, .-. became >' .li. stronger in his defense of o. liberal o.r'~s educction ca mor to an industrial edvo.:;.tien for t.bs lllllSses, o.nd spoke of the Talented Tenth of bis race vhe JDUBt · t net be denied their desire for culture, o.nd 'Who uere necesalll7 as teachers for the others. (31!!1le, Ch. 6) . ..
At OppOAtpt of Vtnb1 nertOil: · In hiaJ(caous east17 iri·:s gul s- hAilf!l.ltU"'d tho.t tfjJjWJcton. · all but preached !lagro interiority, pemitted econCIDic concerns to become moat iaportnnt; failed t8~pup t!Je il!lportonce of th6 bollot·'il..f the ~!! were to.. J11J:;II1s t
economic training, and thct by conciliating the white south he was und8I'IIIining the ve:ry self-respect be was Ufgi.lig~an ' the Negro. (Soule; Ch. . .i) •. ~ . .. ·.... . . ·
,AI MLUtnn1; Prpttawr: The f'1nal estranpment·tb4miJI•Ui~·~ cfllll8 Yl:l.o11 :~e ... took pc1rt in organising the Nio.go.ra HoV8F.I8Jlt . Ih 1905 tV.O~ni.o8 delega\es met. at N1ap.l'tll'alls and resolved that Negroes ahould protest a~ninst the curto.ilment of their civil and polltical rights, .:o. nd the inequallties in their educational and ecoocaie opportunities. In the follouillg yec.rs race riots ili· the north ttirftd • . t"! teveral 11hitea, in the spirit of the o.bolitionitts, and they celled o. conference in 1909 to which they invi~·'*fie lliap rodtoala. Th1s. biracial:..p-oup ~the HUCP, Qlld DuBois \ISS ita for emost llegro leader , am the editor of its 110ntbl7 1110.gasine Cptia, (which i s still published tod£17). In lo.ter years DuBois continued bit protest>·:._. organizing , t}ie •pan..Africc.n mD"'iptnt •• : . · .• .. _·.· .. . ,'_,,. ..
\ ~...: . At EmgBSor of' tbe Negro Copacience: In his introduction to Squln, Saunders Reddine vrote tb::l.t in many wo.ys this book creo..tad·-the .tfagroee 1( consci0111mess Qf~~,.lt::· ond. his vorld. (p.l8). Dulloil blld. o. deep sensitivity. a·bout -the Jir<;bl.81iia at being a !legro. He frequently expressed his sense of "tuonesa". "One feels his t\foneas-u A·1ericcn1 a Ne:Jro, tuo soul.a, two .thi-1\lgh~s, 'btiO~v.m:PCoaQled stri~,- tv.o ...... ring ideals in one dark bod;r ••• The lilutert of the An8rico.n ifegro ~ tbe·1iistory of tbit strife, - this longing to o.ttain self-conscious manhood, to merae his double self into a better o.nd tnJer self• " (Qloted i.Jllleier., P'• ·190). • Be also ·:··1 .~· tal"" about the twoneaa he felt o.a an educated Negro: be wMted on the one baDd to combat t!le '•tereetype or. the Hegrc. nnd' devel.Op:.·.l'lit J.ntept,c,~·:-. C\IJ.~·. . i tastes; am yet he felt cCillpelled.to shnn.with.'Qild aery:ia .bls people. · (!kjula, P• 18) .
A Third Al.ter0ft4ye to?Jntustiee Brnergell;r · Rftbk ,t5~<Afi:ico. ·and U•rc!!f r-snn . ..:.::-. \.- : ~
H1stortrel Ceptext: Tile ero. or World W'o.r I SD.\1 en increase in r o.cial tension o.nd atrocities. The Ku Klux Klo.n ~ros revived and became a !dlito..nt aroup of 100,000 by 1916 and sparked a spread of race r ir>ta and mob violence all O"'er the country. Offici al Negro protests ho.d little effact, except for some tolten hell.dwy in the courts. Moreover, tbe lower class negroes, recently emigro ted to the northern urbo.n sl\1118, vere not touched by the Ne[iro Pertest movement. This wa also the
period of vorld wide sentirJent for selt-determinntion of the emer ging nations of the vorld. · · .. • ·
MarSUf net!!! I In the post var years Gervq capi t4lized on tbe estrangement e.n:l contusi on of the urban Negroes 111 appealing to their racial pri de, and tbe image of the •noble Africo.n•, uitb a pro.ctical progrr.m to settle in Liberia. Be .JI!'OCeeded fran the premise that the Negro would never be trMted 3uatl,y 111 t.be white lllaJI, cun contended that tbe NAACP really \IOJlted tbe lfegro to be gradually amalgamated into the wbite race. Tbe··nault \laS a vast network of orr;anizations all ~ting the Negro and praniaing visions of fraedCIII and self-goVl!rment. F111elly arrested tor floaudulent use of the mails, Garvey succeeded ]1l'imllril,y in staging a protest azai;nat anti-negro sentiment rather than a positivG desire t o emiarate. .· . .
·. SOOOESTID READI HGS Oll CIJA?r...R VI •
Part A Be.aic Texts
I, From Slfl'V'i!r:y to. Freedf!! - Fre~ _ · . l ..
• I II. The Negro in Am&iosn Life fc Thbught 18?7 - 1901 _ :- Rayfol'!l Logan ......... .. ~. . ... _ ... , Din1 Press 1954 - ··~·
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1. lfaabinston held th~t the derrro.dat ion of the ;~egro "ant a long wa,y to explain white hostility t~ him. Inpllc~.t in DuBois' critique vas the belief that prejudice is as much a causa of degradation u its result. Cor.ment in tel"'lll ot Dullois ' t,1me as "ell as ow• ovn.
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2. A paradox emerged in that Haahin.r;ton insisted tbe Negro IIUSt develop tn;l.ente ald. respectability in $ler to br: a .;cepted by tbe South; hDifenl', in Jllall7 : cases it uas the llegro bu.slnessman and educated minority 'IIIlo were most resented.
In the 1101'411 context ue might ask whrrt' vas significance ot the tact tht.t the white world was ready to accept Wa:Jbington, yet complotel7 rejected DuBoia vho vas far more edUCIIted.· · This wo-.Jl.d seem to call into queat1on tbe present Jqth that "white people don't want t o go to school vith Negroes becnuae tba lntter are not sufficiently educnt~l ."
3 • Washington believed racial injwr~ice bad b•trt the wbi te race: In Up frgp Slo.verx ( p. 12) •be shous hw the e'dstence of slaveey left the wbltes \Illprepared to carey on uben they no l ongar had slaves; and later (p. 117) he ' held that disenfro.nchisement had done a ''permanent injuey to the Morals of the white tlltlll ••• The uhite man who J:ee1ns by dlellting a Negro uaually ends by cheating a vhite man."
. As one historian, Franklin, writes: 11It was a dear ' rice that the whit es of the south paid for this color line. Since all other issues were subordi.natecl to the issue of the Negro, it becrute impossible to ba,. tree or open discuasions ot· problems affect i .ng o.ll t he people." (p. 338).
4. How pertinent .for contomporaey youth is the follcndng statement by Hashinaton? 1'\olben a white boy undertakes a task, i t is taken for grapted that he will succeed. <m tbe other hand, people are uauall.y surprised if the Negro boy does not fo.il. In a word the ~esro youth stc.rts ,dth the presumption apinst hila. " (Up .From S]r.vm, p . 25)
S. Vbll e the JIID.instream of Negro tbo~ght and leadership opposed Garvey's movement (just as the somevhat simllar Black lwlims are opposed tod117), in what respects must it be taken seriouJly?
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CHAPl'ER SEVEN -- RISE OF NEGRO PR<YrEST ORGANIZATIONS .. The protest movomont of the 20th century had no easy b:!.rth, The first massive protest took place when a group of 100 slaves in the vicinity of present day South Carolina rose in rebellion and escaped to the Ind:!.ana in 1526. ·AJ.theker ~epo~ts th~t at least 230 s~ve r,volts took place , l We know tha.t"more t.bl!.n 100,000 Negro~s ~soaped from the ~-outh via the underground railroad\ ~d coUAtle.as Negroes , from t .he 17th century to the advent of the Civil War, were engaged ill varied forms • of non-violent resistance: work stoppages, the general strike, sitdown· strikes, etc,. ;• ~·"ota_$11;-the destruction of machinery ahd burning of ~roperty--was wi~esprea~ throughout the s1,v~ period, And , to be sure, the gre~te,e,t. .of all N11gro prote.st movements'· the lifting of the sable arm during the Civil War, provided the necessary leverage for the Union Army to upro~t the slavocracy in the South.
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Th,ere were revolts; cons'pi.racies and foniis of protest that represente'd · the highest order of organ±tatiorral skill and intelligence. And the·r ·e · were black men who ·distingltished thelllSelvea in a manner which oompar~ai' most favorably w:!.th the nighest order of leadership evidenced by whites :!.n the nation's history.
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Foremost among Negrb lead:ers ol' (he: 19th ·century ~re David 17alker, Henry Highland .Garnett and Fr~deric~Dduglass . Douglass possessed a blend of intellect, •character amr visiOn . that was only approached in the 20th century by his · =ost avid •adMirer, \ ! ,E. B, DuBois. It may be said, :!.n fact, that DuBois provided the c ollllecting link between the milita.nt tradition established by Walker, Garpett and D0uglass and the militant black forces at the turn ot>the 20th century, h:!.s ' life hav:!.ng · spanned both centUries. .· ·
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... TWEN'l'ItT'H CENTURY _l;'RdrEST ORGANI.zA.TICti8
The Niagara Movement, fathered by W, E. B. DuBois, represented the first 20th century at'ttempt · on the part of Negroes to mount an organized '· national protest orgil.nhati:on, Meeting at Niagara ,tails , Canada i 't ib''• 1905, the men of N:!.agara aeeertea: I'V{e· •Will not be sati&tied to take·· one jot lese than our fu11 manhood righ~s . We claim for ourselves every s:!.ngle right that belongs to a freeborn American, poLltie~ ·· -· civil and social; and until we get these rights we will never cease to assail the ears o$ :Ameriea .••2 ' · .. · · ·
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The National Association f0r the Advancement of Colored -People waa ' f~nd~d in 1909, The Niagara militants were invited t ·o the founding meeting and W. E. B. DuBois became a co-founder of the association. Unlike Niagara, the N,A. A,C.P, was to be in~erracial in ·composition . The demanda of the Niagara movement became the demands of the N, A,A.C ,P. and the ~.A,A . C , P. set for itself the task of "working for the abolition of all forced segregation, equal education for Negro and white children, the complete enfranchisement of the Negro, and the enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendmenta . 113
The approach of the N.A.A. C.P. has been one of attempt:!.ng to secure complete equality for Negroes through the courts . To this end, the
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N. A. A. C. P. has utilized some of the most brilliant legal minds in the country to topple laws designed to prevent Negroes from enjoying equality of opportunity: "In the t.ou:rts the N.A ,A ,C , P, has handled and won most of the recent Supreme Court cases dealing with discrimination and segregation. It has brought about the abolit~on of judicial enforcement of rao'i.ally restrictive co•1e::ants in housing. It has brought about the invalidation of stute statutes requiring racial segregation in education, transportation and recrea ion • • • By far , the greateat ,of N.A. A. C.P. triumphs in recent years was the Sup:t'eme Court decision i n the five public school segregation cases of May 1?, 1954 .... 11 4
The N.A.A. C. P, ha,s the most distinguished record, and wields the greatest power, of all Negro protest t;roU-ps .
The Congress of Racial Equ~l~ty, uow ~eadqunrtered in New Yor k , was founded in 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. Dedicated to eliminating segregation through the use of non-violent tactics, CORE' members were not the first to utilize this method: Frederic~ Douglass, for example , staged s i t-ins and freedom rides in ~lassach~sett;o in the 1850's , CORE conceived and launched the Freedom Rides of 1961 and, more than any other.organization , suppor ted the atudfnt sit- i ns which prece~ded the Freedom Rides .
The Southern Christian Leadership Confere~ce was formed as a direct outgrol'r'yh of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56. Urging Negroes of Montgomery not to ride segregate'd busses , after Rosa Parks initial exaiiiP,le , their leader, Dr . Martin Luther King , Jr., stated that he "who ll&&aively . accepts evil is as much involved in· :.' ae he wilo he Ips to perpetr ate it. He who accepts evil without protestin~ against it is really coepor.ating 'With it . 115 . .. -·
Under the banner of SCLC King has urg~d hi·s· fol:l'Owers to resist evil by engaging in massive, non-violent. resio;tant efforts in' order to "•ear. down" the opponent mora~ly1• thus forcinb concessione that w~l not only win rights for Negroes but, through ·retur~ing love ~~r hate , provide a o?mmon ground upon whidh a~eeonciliation of the ' racee can take place . SCLC has , in addition to conducting its own ant~-aegregation direct action projects , supported , on a number of ocO"asions, the efforts of student and other ' groups in the South .
The Student Non-Violent Coo~dinating Committee was formed in 1960 with the specific objective of ooord:inating student protest thr oughout the Sou·tn,. SNCC now initiates its O';ln project.B·• and is spearheading voter registretion in the deep South. I t s greatest victar : ea were scored in desegregating lunch counters in scores ef communi ties in the South . •
Commenting on CORE, SCLC, and SNCC eucccases, W. Haywood Burns has written: "As far aa working change is concerned, the sit-ins and Freedom Rides have been an immense succees. However, all !e far from being well . Many a Southern community i s sti.ll entre!lched in its 'way of life ' ,"6
The most commonly held erit:.c ism of the above mentioned groupe 1 is the fact that they have been U-Dalbe to win the confidence of the Negro masses , particU-larly those who live in th~ large urban centers of the North. With
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the exception ol SNCC, these organizations have also been accused of not being militant enough, of effecting too many compromises with po~er structures acrose the nation • .
The Nation of Islam, formed i:iJ. Detroit , .M:icl!igan in the early 1930's, has in recent years attempte.d to fill the vacuum and articulate the frustrations , despair and rage that actuate 'the black masses across the country . Commonly refe·rred to !lB the Black Mue.lims , the Nation of Islam symbolizes a loss of faith, on the part of thousands of Negroes , in the American Dream .
1', Aptheker, Herbert 2. DuBois , w. E. B.
American 'Negro Slave Revolts An A,B , C. of Color P• 31 From Slavery to Freedom p . 439 3 · Franklin, John Hope
4. Burne , W, Baywood 5· King, Martin Luther 6 . Burns 1 W. Hay~ood
The Voices of Negro Protest in America p:p .• 25&26 Stride Toward FreedCIII p . 4o _The Voices of Negro Protest in America p. 58
RecCIIIIIiended Readings :
I. General Texts 1 ' .I
FRCM SLAVERY TO FREEDCM
BEFORE THE MAYFWIER
THE tlEXlRO I~ OUR HISTORY .
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Cl)a.pters 21 - 25, 2?, 29
Chapter 11
Chapter s 25 - 31, 36 - 38
THE NEGRO I tl THE UNITED STATES Chapter 20
II. Current Available Paperbacks
THE VOICES OF UEGRO PROTEST Hayward Burns $1. 75
STRIDE TGIARD FREIDCM
BLACK NATIONALIS~l
NEGRCIFS WITH GUNS
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ni. Other Recommended Readings
Martin Luther King Ballantine Books 50¢
Es.sien Udan Dell Books 75¢
Robert Hilliams
FIGHT FOR FREEDOM STORY OF THE NAACP Langston Hughes
THE BLACK MUSLii'IS lN Alll!:RICA
THE ANGRY BUCK SOUTH
THE NEGRO AND THE CCM-iUNIST PARTY
Btrl' NOT NEXT DOOR
Discussion ~estions:
C Eric Lincoln
M1 tchell & Peace
Wilson Record
Rosen
:
1 . Hov vould you compare the effectiveness of pursuing Civil Rights through court action with direct non-violent action such as sit-ins or boycottsi
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1be oont.ribution o£ tha No~o to OUl." oultt:re is perhaps most evident in the world ot llaaio. It hils often l.lllco not 9d tbat jazz and the ep!rituala are the chief' =it*J:al creations originnl to l~merica. The Negro slaves who constituted the peasant -..ee of the plantation South r.ave pr-ovided 'l:s 1!1 tb our richeet traditloli ot folk auaic. The bsllede and IDot'e humorous songs provided the content tor ma.tz.el:. •incinc. It waa the fore-runqer o£ va!X!ri.lle. "Strange tl'ick of deetley Wli ~t the pooup ot tbi fl:pula~p,n !Milt subject to ~preaelon and 1 ta eorrowa ebould tbmilh eo larp a I e of tHii p&pulatioo's joy nnd relaxation." 3.
'l'hie "happier" contl"ihution of t .he Negro vas accepted rather read1l7 by tbe ...,J~ •.1orit1 beoauee it provi ded amueement and eaead the conecience. lot ao read!-,; UD!vetood or appreciated wu the more serious creation ot the elaw ocnpan1t7-IIUII1.7, the spiritual. The epiritual oaabinad tbe experience ot eutterl.ar. lflth tbe riob reeourcee ot the Bible in tbe dble~alon ot IIIUIIio to enable the 1law to endure ble sufferinc and to nurture bis hope et freedCIIII and of a better world to CCIII!Jo
.llao, out ot the Negro e:;cpel'ienea came the 11BJuee" wbicb event~ ocahf.ned with a mnber ot other 1.nf'luences boi \l Afri~:l.ll aod J!:uropeaD to _.rp &I Jazz. Jail tiJ'et beoame fiiiiiOUs in llc"<~ Orlc~ns alld then t xaveltld to Cbice.co and 11w York where 1t UDIU'Vellt succesa~.va s"':.agc3 of C,on l oprent. Negro folk IIIWI1c aa:l Jus beve bad a profound influence CD r.s.J:V of tl: 3 lll're classical American IIIUII1o1ane1 1nclldinl Pardi Qrofe 1 George Gcrr:!:-.r.l.:1 c.m Aal·or C Of elar 1. Nogro th-.e are alao lotluential in AJltoo Dvorak's n;r~ \{orld SJillp!:IOJ 'f~ • Chief lll:!Ong the Megro claaaloal ocaposere .ba.,e been lfdtnmi Jc:Jldna, WJ.JJ.it n G::u.. !. SHU aud. Florence Price, and 81110QI oooteaporariee there are Jehu \·lol'k~ Ho·tall S,.;anaca and lllyasee &q.
A deta11ed analysis of t ja o;.-lgi.n a11d :Jatt:.re C·f Negro folk IIIU81c can be fowd .iJ1 the vol.\1118 tv Harold Courlaodo~·. An ~sis ot liegro nusio aa a ref'lection of the lfeero experience in white America can be found in the book "Blues People" by LeBDi JoDea.
The lfegro contribution to literaturs also bae ite roote in tbe era of elavery in lfea:ro folk poetry and folk +.!1ought. A:aong the most useful reeourcee here are a
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te>lk bistoey of slavsey entitled "lay l(V Burden Down" edited by" B. A. Botld.n a.ad a little volume entitled "Deep River" by Ho\rard Thuman. In addition to t.be 'thouchta contaiDed in the spirtuala, ballads and work songs was the redemptive sense of hulllor in tales such as the tll'lcle Remus stories. The outstaJidi.ng element
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of tbis folk heritage was the "optimistic faith to which tbe Negro slave pers1stentl3 cluac in spite of infinite causes prompting biJD to morbidity, pessilll1811, or unmitigated despair. DuBois recz.rded tbis as an inlportant cultural gift because it enabled the Ne!Jl'O to survive ,under the hardships of slaveey; b7 the disarming quality of his optilll181i1, the Negro 1ras able to come psychologically very close to the people vho vere expoli ting hilll." 4.
Tbe cbief fcmul contribution of the American Negro to formal literature bas ca~e during tbe twenti.et.b century and aelllliS to bave coincided with the maturing of American literature in general and with tbe increasing milito.nt protest of the Negro cCIIIIIII.IIli ty as it seekS its inheri tanee in the promised land.
Alllong tbe greatest of the Negro poets have been James Heldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, Gen.e Toomer and Claude Mcltlcy- and, of eourae, most recently CNendolyn Brooks. Among the outstl'.nding novelists have been Richard ~lright, Ralph Ellison, Arnn Bontemps, Zora Hurston, John OUver I<illen1 and, of course, JeJI.ell Baldwin.
Probably tbe most outstanding literary figure, in the area of both fact and fiction, is the notable W.E.B. DuBois, uho bas served as novelist and prophet, sociolof;ist alld pbilosopher in the Negro community's pilgrimia-:e of discovery.
Prior to the twentieth century, the Negro o.s a literary figure was tb.e vietlll of the racial conflict. Before tbe Civil \lar his character was distorted i n both proslaveey and aboli t1 onist li tara ture . During and attar reconstruction, the treatment of the Negro suffered from tbe same polarization, espeo1.all.y with the emergence of a Jim Crow culture. For the m.ost part, it waa o~ in the twentieth century tbat literature by and about Negroes began to have a sensitive relationebip to reality.
The r ole of the Negro in American drama folloved a eomewbat eimilar course, e.nd. be began to be eeriouszy seen as a pereon i n the works of Eugene 0 1Neil a.ad Paul Green after llorld War I. Amonc the aore suocessful contemporary drlllle.s are "Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine lfanebury, and "The Blacka" by Genet,
Amoag the outstanding Negro artists in America have been Henry Tanner, !·leta Fuller, I&ura ~!beeler loll.l'iJIC, Ha1e Hoodruff, Aaron Douglas, Sergeant Johnson and RiciiDom Bartha. ODe of the best collections can be found in tbe book 11American Negro Art11
by Cedric Dover .
The creativity of the American Negro has been both stimula ted and shaped by hie unique experience as an oppreaeed ndnority in America . The hope for tbe f'uture \(ould
be that ae the Negro finde his rightful place in American se>eiety, his thelles and hb treatment ot themee might become more universal even as hie contribution rl!ll&ins unique.
1. Smith, Lillian Jtillen of the Dr!g. p. 188 2. But.cher, Margaret Tb• Heero In eerican Culture, p.l.J 3. ~., P• 3S 4. ~., P• 92
SOOGES'l'ED READINGS Oil THE LIEGRO I ' CULTURE, ART & LITI:RATURE
PART A - Basic Texts
3.
1 . From Slsyery to Freedom - John !f>pe Franklin Chapter 26 2. Th! Negro in Cur Hi.storx - Carte.r lioodson Chapters 35 & 38 3. The Negro In the United States - Franklin Frazier Chapter 19
PART B - REX:<J.n£NDED PAPERBI!CKS
1. The New in J.merice.p Culture - Hargaret J . Eklteber Baaed on materials left by Alain Locke, Hentor Books, 1956. G.75
2, lay IV B!.!rden D21:1n (A Folk lfistory of Slsvecy) &iited by B. A, Botkins, 1945 Phoenix Books 1961 Univer sity of Chicago Press
3. Ynnle Tom' s Children - Richard l~right - 1936 Signet Eooks 1963
4. NAtive Son - Richard Hright - 1940 Signet Books 1963
5. Go TAll It On tbe Mountain - JBJne~t Baldwin - 1952 Signet Books 1963
7. The Negro Novel in Ap!erica - Robert A. Bone Yale University Press, 1958
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~TIONS ON THE NEGRO IN CULTIJRE, ART & Ll'l'ERATIJRE
1. Do ;you think tbat social guilt can cripple artistic creativity?
2. What happens to literature and art when it beaaes an instrUJDent of political and aoc~al propaganda?
3. Is tbere a legiti.JIIate IIIIJUler in vhich art forces 111ay serve the cause of social protest?
4. What urdque insights baa the Negro experience g1 ven the Negro artist and wr1 ter • to share with the world?
S. Is there a connection between suffering and creativity?
6. Wbat do ;you think of these stat~ents:
A. "l~e who .bave had less of the 111aterial assets, who, therefore, have not been driven by power forces, and who have attached greater significance to human val\\ea, may well have to take the lead in recasting urdveraalsocial vulues. 11 (The Nevo in American Cul.tur•, p. 226.)
B. "If the onl;y civilization that can survive 1a a civilization of bulaanit;y, the men and women who brillg this civilization into being must be citizens of the world. Curiously enoup, it bas been enaiar for Nep-o 1\maricans to be t'llll citizens of tbe world thlb to be t'Ull citizens of their native ).and. • (The Hem in ADeri909 Cu1ture1
P• 227.)
. . .
CHAPTER NINE - THE NEGRO EXPERI:EN::E
"No one, not even a Saint, OM livo ~lithout o. senso of personal value. The white r a.ce has rnstert'Ully defraudoo the Negro of this sense. It is the lea.st obvious, but most heinous, of a.ll crh1es beco.use it ldlls the spirit a.nd the will t o live , It wns too r.!Uch. Although I was experiencing it, I could not believe it. Surely, in America a whole segoent of decen\aouls could not ato.nd by o.nd allow such oassive crioes to be cO!il!'litted ,n
What is it like to be 11 Negro i n AI:lerica? Very few white can have tried to find out. One nan did, and he received 11 rude shook. John Bowrd Griffin, o. Souther n white newspape:man, .(quoted a.bove) shaved his head and dar kened the col or of his skin and lived llS a Negro for a title in the deep South, He found bins elf exposed to hatred and viciousness , U. found that the new color of his skin confined hin to a closed world in which there was no future . Griffin describes the impuot of his experience coat vividly in his book "Black Like Me 11 •
To see the effects of segregation on the Negro ca:n:runity in Anerioo., we reoOI:I!!lend Pnr t V of the book entitled "The Negro in the United States" by Franklin Frazier. The chapters deal with the problens of health and survival, of unernpla,yment and poverty, of f~ily disorganization, of crime and delinquency, of oental deficiency and insanity. Of part icular ioportanoe i s Chapter 27 which deals with the nature of race prejudice and its effect on the Negro, As Frnzier points out, the word prejudice r1eans "pre-judgment" in ths sense that it is a judgoent concerning objects and persons not based upon knowledge or experience"' I n short, the white najority bas built up e. whole set of ideas and behavior patterns concerni.ng the Negro which are groundless, The Negro suffers the consequences of this falsely bo.sed behavior,
WhAt is it like to be e. Negro in llmerica? Ralph Ellison suggeots that the Negro is the "invisible man•, Because of prejooice, the white can does not ree.lly see the Negro as a person, Instead, he sees e. fi~ent of his imagination, and Ellison eeys, 11I no invisible sioply because people refuse to see me. The invisibility to which I reftr occurs because of a peculiar disposi t i .on of the eyes of those with whOil I cone in contact. n Ellison reflects on the consequences of being invisible and notes, "You are con-stantly being bumped against by those of poor vision. Or, again, you often doubt if you really exist. n 3 ·
Ellison' s cOIIIIilents poi nt up a basic ll:l.blical conviction that to be a, per son depends upon being accepted as a person. This woUld suagest that if the Negro seems inferior to people in the white comr.runity, that it is perhaps beonUse the white mnn .has denied the hurno.nity of the Negro rather than beoause the Negro is really inferior,
Saunders Redding suggests thnt being a Negro in Allerico. involves a double reaction to life. "In the sto.te of which I speak, one receives two distinct impacts from eorto.1n experiences, and one under goes tvo distinct reaotiona-the one normal o.nd intrinsic to the natural self; the other entirely different but of equal force, a prodigy cr eated by the o.cOUI1!Ulated consciousness of Negroness.• 4
·.
I n other words, since the Negro hes been taught that Negroness is less than human, he finds hicBelf i .n conflict between his hU!laJli ty ani his Negroness . Redding suggest s that this conflict even affects his r eadiness to respon:i to God. "I rejected God; Not '111/1 instincts, l;);.t my
2
deepest feelings revolted cC~:~pulsively-not because I vas I, a sort of neutral JuDan stuff reacting directly to experience, but because I vo.s Negro. It is bard to make it clear; blt there were two people sharing rry physical existence and tearing me aport. One , I suppose, vas the actual self which I vanted to protect and yet which I seemed to hate 'With a consuming hatr ed; and the other vo.s tbe ideal self which tried ccm~sively to shape the actual self away hom all that Negroes seemed to be. 11
Perhaps the most poignant port of Redding's book entitled 110n Being .Negro in Junerica" is the story in chapter tvelve of his son t s first encounter with prejudice and his dilemma in trying to interpret it.
What is it like to be a Negro in America? Richnrd Wl'ight suggests that it requires the constant role of deception. The Negro must constantly hide his true self ani present the false face that tho v.hite can vants to see. In order to survive, the Negro ' s life lilUSt become n deliberate lie. As a frietd advised bin, "Whe.n you are in front of white people, think before you act, think befor e you speak. Your way of doing things is all right ru:~ongst our people, but not for white people. They von't struld f or it.• This advice proved difficult for Richard Wright for, as he put it, "It was simply impossible for me to calculate, to scheme, to act, to plot all the tiLle. I would remember to dissemble for short periods and then I would forget and act straight and buDan again, not vi th the desire to bat;m anybody, but merely forgetting the nrtificiCLl status of race ond class . "
All of the above accounts point to one basic f a ct thnt the subordinate or inferior role has not come naturally to the Negro as sOI'Ie races have tried to suggest, Rather, it is a role that has been .forced upon bin in basic violation of his personality. As J!ILles Ba.ldvin puts it: "It is the peculiAr triumph of society - and its loss - that it is able to convince those people to vhao it has given inferior status of the reality of this decree; it has the for ce and the weapons to translate its dictuc into f act, so that the allegedly inf~rior are actually made eo, insofar as the societal realities are concerned."
To be a Negro in Amorica is to be caught between the gatura1 desire to fUlfill one ' s being as oreated by God o.nd the unnatural need to f'ul.fill one 1s being as prescribed by whi to society- i . e . to be of no consequ.ence or to become 11white".
1 . Griffin, John Howard 2 . Frazier , E. Franklin .3 • EJ.llson 1 Ralph 4 . Redding, J . Saunders 5. ~. p . 144 6 . Wright, Richard 7. Ba.ldvin, James
m o gk ~ Hi Page lll lJl1l Nflero 111 ~ United §tates p. 665 ~ Invisibl,e ~ p. ? ~ Boioo Negro ill Aperisa P• 12
m-k Boy l:P}) 203-204 NOtes of a Nat ive Son, p. 20
•
SUGGESTm READIOOS ON THE NEGRO EXPERIENCE
Pert A Basic Texts
:t. ~ Negro i,n !1!1 United Sta,tes by Franklin Frazier Part V - ProbUms of Adjustment, nm espeeinl.cy chapter 27 "Race Relntions"
II. Before ~ Ma.yfloyer by IA!rone Bennett-Chapter XII
III. ll:s!m Slavery .12 Freed001 by John Hope Franklin-Chapter XXX
Part B Worldng Library ot Currently Available Paperbacks
I , 1J:1i Story J2! the American Negro by Ina Corine Brown Chapters IX am X-Frie!Xlship Press, Nev York-$1, 50
•
II, IDepk ~by Richard Wright-signet Books, New Yor)c4. 75
III. ~ L1.e :tm by John Howard Griffin--&gnet Books,New York
IV, .2; BeiM Hegro J.a Agerioa ~ Saunders Redding Cho.rter Books, New York - \1>1.35
v. lfgtos 9! A NAtiVe D,.by Janes Baldwin - . Beacon Press, Boeton- $1.45
VI. NobodY Knows HI 1illm2 by James Boldwin - DeU-t. so
VII. ~5Inv1sibl.e liW by Ralph Ellls~iinet Books, Nev York
VIII, SgnlA ~ iiAll.!£ .f21J1; by W. E. B. DuBoi-Premier Books, Nov YorJc.-..t.so
QUESTIOlfl
1. Wh:lt do you think of the following stateoents?
A. "During the period of slavery when the inferior stotus at Negroes was fixed, roce prejudice tended to be abaent. Whatever race prejulice vas manifested townrd the Negro was directed against tho free Negro. In a society bllsed upon slavery, thero was no plnce for a free Negro. The reference hero to "pleco11 is not "place" in a spatial sense, but to place in a social sense, status. Those vho are prejudiced against a racial group are gener nlly eager to keep the members of tbnt group in o. subordinate social st.:ltus . ••- Frazier, lh2 Negro 1Q!!!!! United, S!;ltef. p. 667
- 1-
2
B. "The two nost important personal factors which appear to be responsible for intense prejudice on the part of individuals are the feeling of insecurity am. frustl'ationa . '!he Negro becooes the acapegoet for failures am truatra~ tions . n ~., pp,67o-671.
c. "While, on the on~ oom white Americans have denied the Negro t he I'igM to coopote w1 th whites 1 on the other bam they have given millions of dol lars in philan-thropy to aid him in overcoming the effects of discrimination. n ,WB.. 1 p,676.
D. "White Anerico.ns do not know Nesroes for the simple reason that race prejudice arid discrioination have prevented normal human intercourse between the two races . " ~.,p.276.
E. "The so-called J.ibora.l white man or 11friem of the Negro" generally views the Negro with a faaling of pathos or a patronizing at·~itu1e.« lll.i£., pj 677,
2. To what extent have you had flllY honest personal canmunicati on in depth with someone of the ot her race about the issue of prejudice and segregation? If not, what is the basis of your thinking?
J . If you were a member of tha other ro.ce , how would you act in the present si tuatio.n in America?
4. Do you believe that deep rooted guilt foolings in the white canmunity might increase their ability to rationa.lize the situation, and even to intensify their capacity for injustice?
5. Attar r eruiing chapter XII ''On Bei ng Negro in American, how would you go about explaining the present racial situation to your chi.lnren?
6. After r eading the entry in John Howard Griffin' s dia.ry for NoveJaber 24 beginning on pnge 99, hc.w vould you view the often debated question on racial intermarriage?
7. We have seen in this section the effects of raci al discrimination and segrego.tion on the Negro as a. person. If the Christian Church i s really concerned abo~t persons, what should be the role of the church in the present cris i s?
CHAPTER X - ROlE OF THE CHRISTIAll OHORCH
The dramatic events t oot .have happened 'lithin ·the conte::t of !lnerican life since the Drot·m deciaion (liay 171 1954) have in n very real way forced various reactions .fro!:! the Christian Churches. These reections have by no m8<".ns reflected a unanimous w:deratanding of what the Church is called to do; nor ha'!e they in a real W8'3 caused the ripples ot unrest to subside or to reach even nora dre..'i'lB.tic proportions .
Unfortunately 1 the churches have bad to resporxl to the actions or the courts and to direct action, 1, e,, the demonstrations, Some of these responses have tlithin them the possib:Uity of a creative thrust; 11hile SOllie arc rlere :>]..etitudinous mouthings . The 1964 3athering of l iethodists in i.'ittaburgb sau a real struagle bet\lee.n those that wotild abolish the J.1l l<legro Cent1-al Jurisdiction and tllose that would adVOi:a te voluntarisrJ or "don't rock the boat", The United Church or Christ (formarl.J the Con31'egat1onal Chriatien Churches and The Eve.n(;elical Church) at its lut General S71lod voted, attar :nuch delx:.ting, to establish a "rlacial Justice Nov" fund, to help in specific situations, The Southern Baptist Convention neeti11g in the Spring of 1964 tailed to act creatively as a body in urging open membership, The Anerioan Baptist Convention, meeting simultaneously, w.s struggling to arrive at some form of l!linistry in the present situation. Di.fficulties are not solely Protestant. Reman Catholics ~lith their more s t ructured system have been guilty of offerincr the right words at this tirae, but in i!l&ll3 instances find it difficult to il~leiaent these at the parish level.
These aforementioned reactions have not taken into account tthat every church bo.a done, but those are indicative of the ambivalence that e::ists 1ritb1n all churches on the American scene aa they confront the l!egro (?) l)roblem. lllt uhether they react creati~ or indifferently the Gospel of reconoillation th8f are required to preach is present; and beoa.use it is present and they (the churches) act thusly they uill becotle even mora paranoid,
II
Ue need not deal at length 1ritb the problems relati113 to tbe res:>onae of the slaves to the aew world and their place in it, but it is necessary to say that having been torn trcm "bia laDd" and thrust into an allen niche of existence it is no 8l!l&ll. wonder tbnt he responded to a netf world viw rega:;.'dle ss of the fc.shioo in which it vas given.
",,. the sl.Llvss who had been torn from their hcmeland and killlllllen arxl their friends and 'llhoae cultural heritase uas lost, we.re isolated and broken 1118D1 so to apeak •
• • • not only did religion drau tbe ile3J'ocs into a uni on 1ri th their f'ell01-men, it tended to breik d01m barriers that isola~ them morally tron their 'llbi te masters, " •
Prior to the Revolutionary ~Tar, efforts were made to be some'\lbat hUDianit!lrian touard the slaves. The rO)'al hoUses in Europe l·rith ties in the colonies insisted the.t the Cbristian religion be ziven to the slaves . L:uch of this ~IUS brouaht about with the help of the :iissionaries, 11ith their peculiar brand of piety lllall3' of the missionaries sav no conflict betueen \lhat they taught and the status of their pupils. t!oteble exceptions in this early sta;:e wre the (junkers and the An3llcans .2 Followill~; the Revolutionary 1tar the slave holders, uho l"!l'eviollsly had not been interested in : :c.ld.ng Christiana of the slaves bet;an to do an about fnce, They fourxl scriptural justifiea-
2.
tion for sl::.very nul felt that Christianity, in a re.al \tay, would help them placate their slaves,
''Durins the lat ter part of t he 17th centUl"'J and tproushout the 18th, there 1o1ere risin: to !'O\Ter i;1 the United St .:.tes t11o <Sects, ubich, l:leco.uae of t heir evangelical a!)peal to the untutored mi.nd, made such inroads upon the l'!egro popUl.D.ti ·n as t o take over in a feu years t ile:.:-eafter the direction of the spiritual development of most of the Negroes throughout the United Stc.tes. 11
the success of the.se tl·to ~oups (;rethodist aiJd Bo.ptist) \r.IS shortlived, owing to the conflicts tbl'.t arose betueen the I>lort hern and Sou·thern f acti ons over slavery, Consequen~, the~·o came into beinJ the liorthern &lptist and the Southern BaptistJ the tlorthern i !&thodist and Southern lledhodist. The Presbyterians also split along sectional lines.
ConcCIDittlnt uith the emergence of Chr istianit y amon,1 the slaves there ws developing a center of po1·1er and authority el'l'.bcdied i n the llegro clergy. Because of this l:l&llY of them \fore sus:>act and trere allO\ted t o hold services only under the watchf'Ul eye of the elnveowners, Two such f a:Jous r.1en were Geor(ie Liele and Androw Bryan.
Ar.1on~st the freed Negroes, located predominantly in the North, the;.·e came into existence churches tl:u-.t were !Jrilllarily iie3ro. llichard Allen or~anized the Bethel Church in 1794 and began to establish similar churches. In 1816 the African I:ethodist Episcopal Church 1-1as or~;anized , Peter l!illiSIIls, Sr. becran a movement tbat resulted in the establishment of the African ::ethoc.1ist Episcopal Zion Church. A£ter the Civil Har still another iietho.li st group emerged from Jackson, Tennessee, Patterned after the l·iethodist Eroiscopal church it beoallle the colored iiethodist Epi scopal, now called the Christian i ;ethodist ~iscopal , The Baptists, more loosely structured, were or :;anized into Conventi ons. other deno; d.nations established churches among Ne~oes on a much smaller scale.
Even though sooe denoni.J:l.1.tions established churches, on smeller sonle, they \lere active in the era follouinl the Civil 1Jar i n establillhina educati onal institutions for Ne:rroes, Another thrust of the c hurches vas in the :..rea of econol"ic development. TQ!t major l!e~ro groups nade efforts to establish beneficial societies to help the 08\~ly freed persone fr.lin some foothold economioelly.
"They (rural nutual aid societies) 11ere f ormed emong t he poor, la.ndless !!egroes who 1-~ere thrown upon their own resources". 7.
Durine the !,)eriod of Recons truction 11hen t he Nec;roes enjoyed a m.odiOULI of l'reedom., the Cler gy 'beaan to emer·-e as ;lOlU ical leaders. Several of t hem ~rere elected to Congress, FollO\dn~; the neconstructit~n when ifer-roes ~Je;:e barred in the South from the polit ical life of ~ COilllllllnity the Church a~;ain lJec. me t he !Jl'illlncy s te.ge for any kind of le:-.derlthip, The Church Has the sole i nstitution in 11bich p01rer vas used both cr eatively and othenrise. In many instances the Church serves todey in the su1e capacity.
Houever 1 there is a uide variance i n the role or roles the church plays in the life of the oontempora~r l!effl'o. This 1".i3ht be attributed t o such f actors as sectional differences, education, and an emergin.[; !!e31'o ; ;;tddle Clo.ss.
In the South there still eidst bar riers ])reventi ng the full pa.rticipC~tion of 1-lesroes in the totU. life of the cCXJIIIIUJlity. · But o.t the sarJe time there are those ins~'Ulces in \!hicb the C.hurcb hils served as the ) rifie uover to '>rin~ about change. 1-Titness the Lontgoner-; situation of 1~55 cl.uring wb.'.ch the Ile:;ro clergymen, includi~ Hartin Luth4%' King, \1ere able to effect chan.:;es in the t otal comnunity. .All outgrowth of this is the Southern Chriot ian Leadership Conference led by Dr. Kina that seelts to 'rovide a Christian uitne::s and thrust in the current stnr:gle. Even the white antagonists recognize the role of the Negro church. l/itness the oastardly act of bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church in Biminghnm in Se:>tember, 1963 .
I n the Northern urban centers the church does not necessarily serve the same function, Several f -:-.ctor s nust be noted: (1) lney of the mi; .. rc.nta seek to establish a semblance of church lif e cbaracteristic of areas of the South, Hence, the prepot:dero.nce of store front churches . (2) The ellerging ilegro iiiddle Clo.ss has foWld other entrances into the total life of the COllliDUnity which has resulted in a v ory real '-IllY in less ilDportsnoe attached to the Church and a ot>.anr:e on t he !lllrt or l1lff! to more fol'lllal denotlinc.tions , e .g., E!)iScopal, Presbyterian and Cono..z-eg::.tional. • (3) Cults have emer:Icd as a 08\1 :>henomenon in Heero li:e,
Hbatever their outlook may be the Northern church has left much of the action in the social realm to other organizations. However, soru~ persons have emer:;ed as leader s frOID within the cont e"-t of the church, e . g., Adar.1 Clnyton Powell, a 1!18111l:c:r of Congress from Ne~·r York a.ad pastor of the llbyssianian Baptist Church, Even though the churches in a sense bave abdicated their function it is the contention of this uriter that the church can perfom a most vital role in the current crisis, a!ld both }l'ezro and 1/hite Churches alike must 11ove beyond the !'oints of pater nalis:!, uncortaint1 and mbivalence,
Fr0111 ~ey quarters the cry for i!lte[;Ta·'ion iii benrd , Bu'~ arddat tlle strug:sle to have Ne~roea enter the main strea!ll of A."lEErice.n life as 1 t no1: e~:ists the Church has within it the one hope for our society, IIUl Campbell, in his provocative book, "Race and llenowal of the Church" s~tes the church's plight and :nr<l' •ise clearly.
Q.u-s is not n :rnessa.r;e of lnw nnd order, of :man 1 s righ•ts , of constituti ons. The Christian vieH of roce is not limited to the princi9le of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Hhen He t.ell the segregationist that the gospel is to obey the law and accel1t the Su':lre: :e Court <leoi sion1 be ~ see no ~ospel, no "good n&\rs" here, This, for him, is only b.:d news,. n!ld he ill not wrong to ridicule the church .::nd tell it to nind its o•m business,
But if he is told, as he must be told, thc>.t the Cbristiall ~ospel uas and is a message o::' grnce c:nd rede:~ption, t !1en 1 t is an entinly different L11ltter. Tell t he segregationist that by tilis grace God bec~"le flesh- flee h ne;;.ning 'like one of us . ' Tell him God uas in t his f lesh , Tell hin the Christian ness~ge on race relations and all humnn relcti ons: God uas in Christ reconcilinll t he world to hinself. GoJ uas in Christ reconciling his children to one o.nothor and thus to ~linself , God 1/ll.S in ChriGt brealdn;: do'lftn the ualln of hostilit~r that S9!'a.rnte ;.Jan f r or1 :·.au and all men from God . God, furthemore, 11as in Christ lovin5 him- the se~re:; •. tionist hir·self; loving hin , c cce!)ting him, for3ivin:; bimi even it he ca.nnot yet love and accept and forgive his brother. 0
)
"It is nonetl<eless true th:·~ if ther e is to be real rene1:J~ of the church i n OUl. century it is possible that i t uill be achieved tllrough the predominantly l!egro cOID!iiUilions, es1J8cially if there is no drastic c~n;e fro.>:~ t heir comfort- loving, st• tus- riddeil cor.~placencies by 11hite ::'rotentantism. I t has olue.ys beer. ·i;Jw.t a suff erin:; peo:'le seen to respond more readily t o the call ot God.
"But again the dD.nger is t het the r es:1onse to t he call \iill not be a true ' covenanting ' with God. It is a false idea of covenant to se:r to Ood1 'It' you ulll deliver us out of our afflictions we llill be your people.• This is not uhat a covenant relationship me.:.ns. If Ue3r o churchmen in !U~terioa can see the covenant only as the privilege of serving God and liVing in cOJlll!IUDion \lith him, aware all the uhile ot the dan;:eroue condi ti-n of ;;eiog a &!)ecial a~ent of his holT concern, it they see raan 1 s role in the covenant as the acknowled&l!lent of the unconditioll41 soverei:;nty of the Ruler of the nations , then there is hope that Christianity ~olill survive this period of testing. a.tt if Negro churchmen b<:gin to o.ssume toot on the 1-..esis of the covenant they o.re anti tled to claim selfish rights before God and to be dealt ~lith in s0111e f avored lli8Jlller that accorc'..s 11ith their own notion of 1!hat is good for them, the:..-e ~1111 not be a renewal of the church throu~h them. The 110rd ' covennnt ' does not mean a biU:lteral contract betHeen tuo equal parties. This uas ::;>reci sel.T I srael' s sill , I t is cause for alarm to hear repeatedl.T at freedom r allies: '~le are going to uin bec.::.uae God is on .mat si de11
This ia assumed in ever:r revolution, It 1r.:.s assumed in the fwleri can Revolution, l:N.t ~that ha;>pened? 1Jeshurun waxed rat, alXl ld.ckedJ ... then he fonook God who made hi.Jn, and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation,' (Deut. 32:15, )"
Not only are the op~'ortunities for 11itnessi11[! as Christians avaiU:lble to l!ettroes, but to predominantly uhi·~e connnunions as uell. And unless all grasp the opportunity there ~ still e:ds t a feeling of (lUilt because of the continued violation of the Goepel given us,
1 . Fr11111er, Franklin, Th• Nszsro Church in Ar~erica , pp. 8 & 9. 2 . Hee.thertord, 11. D., Wricrm Churches and the Neqro, ch. 1 & 2. 3. Hoodson , c. G., Hinto~ the ~!er:ro C!nU:<1h1 p . 22, 4 . Tbere wo.s s: ~aer:;er of e branches of t he i;ethodist Church in 1939, but the
factions still exist eni persist as 11as oentioned earlier. 5. Hcodaon, C. G, Ibid,., Cha~ter III.
'"-•ier, Frnnklin, ~. p. 26 6 . Frazier, ,sm. __.2il, p -:-33 tf 7. 52g Cit, P• .3~ a. ~. c1t. p. 44 9. See Frazier ' s treD.tuent of this in Bhok Rourr-eoi§e 100 Campbell, \/ill D. , fiAce aM The nene1·1Rl of the Church, !>• JS, 11. C8JD!>bell, 11111 D. 1 ll:&\• pp70 and 71,
BecaDLlllrded Readinca Chapter 10
Part A, CUrrent Paperbac.Jca
RAC::: AND '11m ltillC·Il1L OF TIE CHU!lCH by \/ill D Campbell Hestminster Press 1962 :;;1.25
THE IatKlDCl: .BEI OiD CASTE by Liston Pope Friendship ~'ress 195? ')1.25
THr: R.:.CIAL PROBW: I ii O..llU '..Tl.'..~: ?EllSPECTIVE
Part B, Other Recome!lded Re:-.dings
HI Pr:<l'LE IS THE E:lEili
1KO NEGitO CHURCH I I! .'li :ERICA
Till: HISTORY OF TIC lli:GitO CHURCH
A CHURCH, A SCHOOL
A: ERICA.' C HURC llES tJ.: :n THE N.::G£10
Discussion Questions
by l~le Haselden Harper Torchbooke 1959 (.11.25
by ~lillicro. Stringfellow Halt, Rinehart and Pinston Nell Yorl: 1964 (l),95
by E, Fro.nklin Frazier Scbocken Books 196.3 1/3 .95
by Carter Hoodson Associated Publishers Haahing~on D,C, 1945
by Ralph l!cGill
by ·•. •. \Ieatherford Christopher Pub, House 195?
1. Read Oe.latians 3: 26- 28, Does this conflict with your ideas about the groups in which you are involved'! Are these grou:>,JS shaped or established according to moe, status or economics ?
2. For the white lllristian: is there a di fference between "doing good" for the ilegro and taking him seriously as a person?
.3, For the Negro Christian: is there o. difference betwea subDission to Jesua Christ and subllialion to the 11hite power structure?
4, Roll does the idea of non-violence relate to the idea that each man bas a right to protect himaelf1 Is non-violence a tennble position?
5, In the current rac.ial struggl,e hoH different uoul d you e:xpect the views and behavior of the Christian to be from those of the non..Christia.~~? In 11hat way?
6, 1·1bat d o you think should be the ajor strategy of the o::l.jor r elittlous groups in the current rac.ial crisis '1
7, H01~ did you react to the formation of the l'ationcJ. co~terence on llaligion and Race in 1963?
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APPENDIX -- ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION
1. Among resources developed by public school educators in the field of Negro .history, tbere is a booklet entitled "Struggle for Freedom and Rights" avail.able for fifty cents at tbe Board of Education, 1354 Broadway, Detroit 26, Michigan. A curriculum bulletin for secondary schools entitled 11'l'be Negro in American Bistory" is available from tbe Public Schools of the District of Col\lllbia, Hashington, D. D.
2. Among the more extensive biblio~aphies are t.he following:
A. Tbe !fegro. A gat of Significant Boo.!!,, compiled by Dorothy R. Homer available for $.35 from the Countee Cullen branch of the New York Public Library, 104 Uest 1.36th Street, ;~ew York, N. Y.
B. Boo1ts About Negr o Life for Children by A~ta Eaker available for $ . 25 from the New York Public Li~·, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, New Yor k 18, ~New York
c. An extensive list of books by and about Negroes, \lhich are for sale, can be obtained f'r01n the University Place Booksbop, 69 University Place, New York .3, New York
D. Selected Reading Lists for Both Adults and Children can be obtained from tbe George C. Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library at 4801 s. 1-li.chigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill,
3. Other useful sources of information include:
1. The Associa.tion for the Study of Negro Life and History 15.38 Ninth Street, N. W. 1 1-las.hington, D. C.
2. 'lbe Museum of Negro History and Art at 3So6 s. J.lichigan, Chicago, Illinois. c/o i·irs. Hargaret &.lrroughs
3. The American Society of Afdcan Culture, 15 East 4oth Street, New York 16, New York.
4. The Anti-Defamation !£ague of' B1Uai B1rith, 315 Lexington Avenue, New York 16, New York
5. The Uationa1 Conference on Religion and Race, 150 Fifth Avenue, Room 632, tlew York 11, New Yorlc.
6 . The Department of' Racial and Culturnl Relations of the National Council of Churches of Christ, 475 Riverside Drive, Nel·l Yo~rk 27, New York.
? . UNESCO Publication Centet·, 31? E. 34th Street, New York 16, N. Y.
4. For listings of' available 1ongplaying reoords of aPthentic Am.erican Negro folk music and spirituals, write to the Library of Congress, i:usic Division, Recording Laboratory, \lashington 25, D. C.
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PERIOOICAIS
l. THE CRISIS T,he Official Organ of t he IWCP 16 llest 40th Street, New York 18, New York- Subscription $1.50 per year.
2 . l!'REED(JiiltfAYS Q.Jarterly RavisH of the Negro Freedom l!ovement-suite 542 799 Broadway, New York 3, New York ·)1. 00 per issue
3, I N'l'EGR:.\TED EDUCATION Published bi-monthly by Integrated Education ASsociates 343 South Deatborn St., Chicago, Illinois $4,00 per year
4, EBONY - published monthly by Johnson Publishing Oo,, 1820 S. lliohigan Ave,, Chicago 16, llllnois - ~3 .50 per year
5, THE !IEGRO DIGEST Published monthly by Jolulson Publishing Co, $5,00 per year
6 , PRESEII::E AFRIOAlNE 42 Rue Descartes Paris V France (;5, 00 per year
7, THE JOURNAL OF NEOIIO HISTORY - Published Quarterly by the Association for the Study of Negro Life & History, 1538 9th Street, N, H. Washington, D. C.
8, THE NEGRO HISTORY Buu.El'IN - Eight issues per year - published by the Same Association, $2, 00 per year.
9, RENEWAL - Published m"nthl:r Sept. through June by the Chicago City }oiiseionary Society, 19 S, LaSalle St., Room 1302, Chicago, Ill, 60603,
CIVIL BIGHTS GROUPS
lo National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 20 West 40th St,, 1fov York 18, New York, CHICil.GO OFFICE: 4:31 s. Dear -born, Chicago 939-5365.
2. National Urban League, 14 Ee.st 48th Street, liew York 17, Nev York. CHICAGO <FFICE: 2410 S, iiichigan CA 5- 0600,
), Congreee of Racial Equality, :38 Park Row, New York, New York.
5. Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 3:34 Auburn Ave,, N. E,, Atlanta, Ge..
6, Utlited Presbyterian COIIIIIIission on Religion & Race, 475 Riversid.e Drive, New York 27, New York (Official body of the United Presbyterian Church)
7. Presbyterian Interracial Council, 235 Heat 53rd Street, Chicago, Ill, DR 3 - 7297 Mr. James McDaniel, Sec,
VISUAL AIDS
I. Avai4ble from t,he Anti Defamation League of B1 oai Bri th.
T he following films can be ordered h-an:
Anti-Defamation LeagUe of B'nai B'rith 343 South Dearborn Street Chicago 41 Illinoi s
Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B 1r ith 515 ~~ison Avenue New York 22, New Yr;>rk
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1. A CITY DreiDES - 2'7t minutes/black & white/cleared for TV Here i s a true story about integre.tion of the public schools of St. Louis, a border city in a border state. It revolves around a teacher vbo was directly faced with a "l:'aoial incident" in his c4ss at Beaumont Higll School shortly after integration took p4ce, (Adult and secondary school· levels) $5.00
. 2. A MORNIOO FOR JIMMY-28 minutes/black & white/ cleared for TV A true story of a young Negro boy vho encounters racial discr1m1 nation. while seeking part-time employment. His disillusionmeht is slowly overcome thraugh the wise counsel of his teacher who takes J~ on visi ts where Negroes are successfully employed in their chosen fields . Jimm;y begins to unierstand that \lith proper education and training be, too, can find his proper place . (Adult and aeoopdary school levelljl) $5,00
3 . ALL THE WAY HeME - 29! minutes/black aJ¥1 vhite/ cleared for TV A house in an all- white neighborhood is up for sale, When a Negro family stops to inquire about it, neighborhood fear and anxiety mount to a dangerous point: until responsible o:alllllunity leadershil asserts itself, Film shows that integra ted communi t i es can work. (Adult and senior high schoo~ levels) $).00
4 . THE BURDEN OF TROTH - 67 lllil1'1tes/black aJ¥1 wh1 te on two reels/cleared for TV A Negro fami.ly moves into a white suburban community and a mob gathers in protest, Through i'J.ashbacks, we discover the problems-end the prej~ices- that the younr; Negro fs.t,Der faced in growing up. Sponsored by the United Steelwor~ers of America (Adult and secondary school levels~OO
5. CRISIS IN I.EVI'ITCWN -- 31t minutes/black aJ¥1 white/not cleared !'or TV A series of interviews with residents , both for aJ¥1 against the integration of the first Negru family to m.ove into Levittown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Dan Dodson of the New York Univer sity Center for Human Relations offer s canment and analysis. Will evoke discussion on problems of equality of opportunity in housing. \1idely recommeJXied for social science cl asses . (Adult and senior high school levels) $5. 00
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6. EPITAPH FOR JIM CRCW - Five ilnepe!Xlent 3D-minute black and lolhite f'ilma/clearnnce for televisi~n use must be granted by the National Office of the ADL. $7. 50 ea.
This series of illustrated film-lectures on the dynnmice of intergroup relations in the United States !'ocuses on the hist0ry nn:i current situation of the Negro American. Tbe historical, politico.l, sociological and psychological forces vhich shape patte~ of prejlJiice and discrimi.np.tion are ;reviewed, and new advances in intergroup relations .are discussed. Produced in oooperatien with the Nztionnl Educational Television Network and Harvard University, Dr. Thomas Pettigrew of the Harvard faculty i~ host narrator.
814th Geberntion Americans" ••• The history of the Negro American and contributions by Negroes to all aspects of .American life are emphasized.
"Face to Face" • •• Dr. Pettigrew explores the problems of bringing diverse groups together a nd the value of various kinds of contact in actually bettering intergroup relations.
11A Tale of Tvo Lndies11 ••• A review of the history of Negro protest against racial discrimination.
"The Newest New Negro" ••• The meaning and value of the newest forma of direct-action protest against segregation are discussed with Whitney Young, Director of the National Urban League.
"Conformity and the Crutch" ••• The psychology of bigotry and the differences between pathological bigotry and bigotry arising out of socinl conformity nre discussed in the light o!' recent sociological :reseo.roh.
7. FACE OF THE SOUTH - JO minutes/color/cleared for TV H istorical analfsis of economic and social factors which have ma4.e the South what it is today. An illustrated lecture by George Mitchell, former director of the Southern Regional Council. (Adult and secondary school levels) $).00
s. THE NEW GIRL - Jot minutes/black and white/clear~ for TV $3. 00 Produced by the Presidentla Committee on Governme.nt Contro.cts, this film dramatizes the internal problems of n plant having a government contract (thus Ullllble to discriminate in its employment policy) o.rA the emotional tensions felt by the new girl herself. The pr o and eon arguments in hiring a Negro girl in an all-wbite company a.re presented in an interesting drlllll£ltic format . (Adult o.n:i secondary school levels)
9. REPORT FROM ALABAMA - 29t minutes/bla ck and white/ not cleared for TV .A kinescope of the special liB:: telecast on the Federal Civil Rights CCIDIDission hearings in Montgomery, Alabe.ma, devoted to an investigation of charges of the denial of voting rights in Alabrulln. (Adult and secondary school levels) $5. 00
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10. TO LIVE TOOE'l'HER- .34 minutes/blAck aai white/c1eo.red for TV The difficulties encountered and experiences shared qy children at an interro.cial sUIIIIIer csmp. The film shows that to llllll'n democracy, children must have a chance to live it. (Adult and secondary school levels) $3. 00
n. The following c.re avo.11a.b1e from the Chico.go Public Library ?8 East Wcahington Street Chicago 2, Illinois
KEY TO SiMBOIS: c- color :film jh-junior high ad-odult
1.
P-primo.r:r sh-senior high el--elementary c--college
go-guide Jllllteria.l (e. g, script, discussion questions etc. ) .is availAble for film
numbers-indicate total l'Uillling time of films
THE H Oll:;lE ON CEDAR HILL (17 m. g) jh-sh- c-ad Event s in the life of Frederick Douglass, the runaway slAve who became nn editor, orntor and statesman, dramatized through historical documents, period drawings, photogrnphs and mementos kept in the Douglo.as home in \~o.shington, D. c.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON (18 m. g) jh-sh-c-od Dramatized episodes in the life of Booker T. Washington present his constant struggle to free his people from ignorance, povert,y, and .fellrJ his hardships in obtc.ining nn educntion; the problems in bUilding Tuskegee Institute arxi his tragic personnl life.
MARIAN ANDERSON (30 m. ) jh-sh-c-od Marian Ander son sings seven selections in concert nnd in reheo.rscl . Her singing, together with some biographical i.ni'ol'!IWltion, give a. mu.eure of her stature as an artist and ns a person,
THE NEGRO SOLDIER (40 m,) sb-c-ad An account of the manr contributions and accomplishments of the Negro soldier, f rom Crispus Attacks, a hero of the American Revolution to Robert Brooke, the first American soldier to die in World \~o.r II . Originally Dlllde to show to Negro troops, the film i~ interesting, historically :for its presentation of changing idea s nnd concepts . Produced by the U, s. Art~zy Signal Corps; directed 'cr.r Frank Capra.
TEAMWORK (20 m. ) .jh-sh-c-.-1d The combat record of the famous "Redlxlll Higlrwny," the Negro unit which delivered !Mter:ial, under fire , from the docke o.t Cherbcurg t o the 11ait:ing o.rmies e1t the front. The important contributions made by the Negro soldier at all levels of aldll toward winning the var, and official recognition of them is touched an.
6 . SIT IN (54 11) s h-c-od Nashville, Tennessee, was the first city in the South to integrate its lunch counters. Influenced by the non.-violent apprO!lch ns practiced by Hartin Luther King, college students marched on six downtown stores . Ghet Runtley of NBO-TV narrates as the film focuses on the actual sitina, their preparation and repercussions. Interviews with the participcnts, their parents, the mayor and other citizens are highlights.
7. BIACK & WHITE IN SOUTH AFRICA (30 m) sh.-e-ad A dispassionate appraisal of the motivations behind the apartheid policy, the doctrine of compl ete rac1nl separation propounded by the goverment of the Union of South Africa.
80 AFRICA DIS1'flHBF>I (28 m. o) sh-c-ad l)r. &lory Ross , a former lliissio,nary, discusses the recent chall8es in A!'r1.Cil and the part the Christian c.hurch has played in bringing them about. A non.-sectarian approach.
9. CAST 'l1iE FIRST STONE (60 m. ) sh-e-dd One of Bell and Howell's TV series, "Close up, " the film probes the different faces of pr.ejudice north of the .Mason- Dixon IJ.ne. Inoll.Jies Chicago' s Grand Crossing neighborhood 1 Grosse Point., Michigan and Los Angela's .
10. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER (12 m. c) jh-sh- o-ad A penetrating profile of the famOU8 Negro scientist. His philosophy, his wor k and his contribution to science.
11. CROOSRQ\DS AFRICA - PILOT FOR A PEACE CORPS (5J,m.) c- ad An ~tPe scene film report of a successful building project b.Y fourteen American college students in the young Republic of Guinea during 'the sllDIIIer of 1960, followed by President Kennedy and R. s.rgent Shriver discussing the Peace Corps .
III. Available frpm the Presbyterian Distribution Service, 200 West Adams Str eet, Chicago 6, Illinois
1 . 557 U THE DROIIEN NASK (1957) Ore.matio A delicate nnd provocative handling of the problems of .race relations not only in a youth camp but .llso in the church. ReconciliatiOil is a two-way street. Golden Reel o.ward. 30 minutes . Sound. Color. Free.
2 . 156 N FOR ALL PEOPlE (1947) Dramntic documentary An adventure i n rece relations with young people in a bi- racial church in Los Angeles • Age level, young people and adult. 22 mine . Sound.. Free.
3. WE HOlD THESE TRUTHS (1951) Dr ainatio Documentary The story of a Negro boy face to f ace wi th diac.rimination and injustice . 26 minutes . Sound . Free.
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IV. Available from Harmon Foundation (Filmstrip) .
A fila strip in color of OUTSTANDING AMERICANS OF NEGRO ORIGIN made from a selection of portrcits from Harmon Foundat~on's Exhibit Together with ThUmb-Nail Write-Ups tor each of the .36 Portrnit Subjects.
35aa. col or film strip - 56 single i'rllllles - arrl write-~ - $6.00
Order from: Harmon Foundation, Ina, Division of Visual Experiment, 140 Nassau Street, New York 381 New York
V. Teaching Pictures of Outstanding Negro Americans
Available from: Ha.I1non Foundation 140 Nassau Street New York .38, New York
Association for the Study of Negro Lite & History 15J8. Ninth Street, N. W. Washington, D. c.
