Foundations of Black Social Thought

8/8/2019 Foundations of Black Social Thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/foundations-of-black-social-thought 1/23

PART II.

FOUNDATIONS OFBLACK SOCIAL THOUGHT



The second art of th is INTR0DUCTION0 AFR0-AMERICANSTUDIESs an in tens iveana lys iso f bas ic soc io -economicfo rmsexper iencedy B lack peop le n the las t

' l 00years .

Thepurposes to bu ' i l don the survey par t I ) o f top icswi th an in -dep ths tudy o f seven 7) c lass . i cs f B lacksoc . ia l

w r i t i n g a n da n a l y s i s . A wo r ko f B l a c ks o c i a l a n a ' l y s i sscons idered c lass ic when t : (A) de f in i t i ve ly sunrmar fzesthe exist ing knowledge f a major Black experi 'ence; e) re-presentsa modelof methodologynd technique hat servesto d i rec t fu tu re inves t iga t ion ; (C) draws rom the ana lys istheoret ical conceptsand proposit ions that contr ibute toour general theoret ical grasp of the socio-econom.icndpo l i t i ca l h is to ry o f the USA ndAfro -Amer icaneop le ; (D)stands he test of t ime by not being proven ncorrbct orinadequate

nd rep laced y a super io rwork ; and (E) gu idesone o take an ac t i ve ro le in s t rugg le to ' l i be ra te BTackpeopleand fundamental ly hange he nature of f tner icansociety.

RATIONALE

. l ^ l .E.B. uBois,n the last chapter f ElackReconstruct ion,discusseswhat he has termed,The ropaganOa-T-ttTitofi.r-Testates

"Bu t a re these reasons f cour tesyandph i ian th ropysu f f i c ien t fo r deny ingTru th? I f h is to ry is go ing o bLsc ien t i f i c , i f the recordo f human ct ion is go ing o bese t downwi th accuracy nd a i th fu lness o f de ta i l wh ichwi l l a l low i ts use as a measur ingod andgu idepost o rthe future of nations, there musl be

some et of standardso f e th ics in research nd n te rp re ta t ion .u l f , on the o ther hand,we are go ing o use h is to ry

fo r p leasure nd amusement ,o r in f la t ing our na t iona l ego ,a n dg i v i n g u s a f a l s e b u t p l e a s u r a b l ee n s e f a c c o m p l i s h -ment , then we mustg ive up the idea o f h is to ry e i ther asa sc ienceor as an a r t us ing the resu l ts o f sc ience ,andadmi t rank ly tha t we are us ing a vers ionof h is to r i c fac tin o rder to in f luenceandeduca te he newgenera t ion longt h e w a yw ew i s h . " ( p . 7 ' | 4 )

As we havecons' istentlystressed hroughout his courseofs tudy tha t i t i s the SCIENCEF SOCIETYa set o f sys te rna t i ca l l yco ' l l ec ted nd ica to rs o f what s happen ing- - fac ts , nd he OBJEC-TIVE e la t ionsh ip be tweenhese fac ts ) tna t wemusts t rugg le tos tudy to learn and o teach . DuBo is oeson to make xp i i c i t

46



the pr inc ipa l task we face as B lacks tudents , eachers ,andi ntel I ectua' l

" In the f i rst place, somebodyn eachera mustmakeclear the facts with utter disregard o his ownwish and

desire and bel ief. Whatwe havegot to know,so far asposs ib le , a re the th ings tha t ac tua l l y happenedn theworld. Thenwith that much learer and open o everyreader, the phi losopherand prophethas a chance o in-te rp re t these acts ; bu t the h is to r ian has no r igh t ,pos ingas a sc ien t ' i s t , to concea l r d is to r t fac ts ; andunti l we can dist inguish betweenhese two functions ofthe chronicler of human ction, vle are going to renderi t easy for a muddledworld out of sheer tgnorance o nake

the sanemistake en t i rnesover."(p,

723)The histor ical record of Black people n the USand around heworld is already too much haracter izedby wishes, des' i res,andbe l ie fs - -andnot enough y sc ien t i f i c s tudy .

The Black l iberat ion struggle has been"rnuddled" y th isfai lure and every day continues o becorneore muddled. Ourtask is scienti f ic study of our hr 'story to clar i fy the ques-t ' i ons ac ing our s t rugg le .

But the fact remains hat al ' l phenomena--whethert isin the economic mater ial) baseof society or r 'n the soctalsupers t ruc tu res d ia lec t i ca l in charac te r ; ha t is , i t con-s is ts o f con t rad ic t ions ,oppos ' ingspectswi th eachaspectcon t inuous ' l yt rugg l ing to domina tehe o ther . Such s thecasewi th h is to ry . D i f fe ren t andoppos ing iewsemerge neveryaspecto f our h is to r i ca l exper ience , achv iewwi th i t sse t o f " fac ts" . To thesed i f fe renceswe shou ldpay s t r i c t

a t ten t ion , us ing sc ien t i f i c inves t iga t ion o judge he t ru tho f any par t i cu la r v iew. I t . i s the process f uncover ing ,ana lyz ing ,and unders tand ingh ' i s d ' ia lec t i c - -oppos ingn te r -pretat ions on var ious aspectsof the importantexperiences fB lackpeop le - - tha twe a im to engagen.

METHODOLOGY

Thegeneralnethodologys the sames outlined n Part .t{here hree topics are assignedbelowassignments hould be madeso that everyone an benefi t from reading papersor hearing pre-sentat ions on al I three topi cs A]

lbooksshou]dbe read i n ful l

and a precise t imetab' le or reading assignments nd papercom-p le t ion shou ldbe worked u t and adheredo .

47



WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER

I . SURVEYINGTHE L ITERATURE:

THE ANNOTATEDBIBLIOGRAPHY

This part of INTRODUCTION0 AFRO-AMERICANTUDIESil lcontinue o pursue wo very importantgoals: increasingourab i f i t y (1 ) to ana lyze he B lackexper iencen the USmorec r i t i c a l ] y ; a n d ( 2 ) t o c o n v e yh i s a n a ] y s i s n c l e a r a n dc o n -cise wri t ten forrn. The requirernentor this part wi l l be fourresearchpapersbasedon intensive treatmentof four topics:Reconst ruc t ion , u ra l -Urbani fe , Soc ia l C lass , andBIackAutobi graphy.

An important i rst step in any serious researcheffort tssurveying he avai lable and most appropriate eferencesaboutthe top ic on wh ichyou wi l ' l wr i te . Themoste f fec t i ve methodof summingp the resu ' l tso f th is p re l im inary nvest iga t ion sthe annota ted ib l iog raphy. Th is is a

' l i s t ingo f books ,a r t ' i -

c lesff iu can use in the formu' lat ionofyour ideas on the topic, from whichyou can gather backgroundmater ia l , andwh ichyou migh t use for quo tesandother sub-

stantiat ion of the informationyou present n the paper.Webster 's ' ict ionary defines "annotate"as "to make r fur-nish cr i t ica' l or exp' lanatory otes or comments,"o for eachreferenceyou shou' ldwri te a three or four sentence escr ip-t ion o f the con ten t , con t r ibu t ion , and s ign i f i canceo f eachbook,a r t i c ' l e , e tc . i ' l h i ' l e esearch or a Ph .D.d isser ta t ionor a bookmay nclude hundreds f annotated eferences,

10- '15

references or eachof the four topics should be selected,and an annotated ibf iographyprepared ery ear ly in the re-

search o r tha t top ic .Thereare th ree read i l y ava i lab le sources f t i t l es fo r

the books ,a r t ' i c les , e tc . , to be inc luded n your annota tedb ib l ography.

1 . Yourpersona l ib ra ry - -The i rs t p laceyou shou lda lways u rn to fo r in fo rmat ion s your ownpersona l o l ' l ec t ionof books- -someth ingha t we shou lda l1 s t rugg le to bu ' i l d up .Check ooks rom previouscoursesor read' ings hich m'ight

poss ib ' l y on ta in n fo rmat ionon the top ic you are inves t iga t -ing . Check o see f there i s a b ib l iog raphyor foo tno teswh ich i s t t i t l es you maybe ab le to fo l low up on.

2 . Loca l Books to re - -F indne ha t ' i s we l l -s tocked ndmakes va i lab le the most e levan t n fo rmat ionon key aspects



of B' lack istory and he Black iberation struggle,as well asstruggles l l over he wor' ld. Visit the store andsurvey heco'l'lection. Make areful notesof bookswhichmaybe usefu'lto you. Salespersonsre often knowledgablen everything nthe store andcanhelpyou n locatingnnteria' lson specif ictopics

3. Universi ty ndPubl icLibrar ies--

A. TheCardCata]ogugontains l ist ing of booksby author, by-Ti-tTilanlJfTffiect. The subject -ategory isa usefu' l oo]; look up t i t les suchas "Reconstruction"uta ' lso ookunder Negroes, .S. , "e tc. In addi t ion, he cardcatalogue il l giveyou the cal l numbernd ocationof t i t lesthat you have isted fromother sources.

B. SpecialCollections: Soneibraries haveaNegroCo1ectT6fr-ir-oTfiEiTlEffi-1 ol ection on Black peoplethroughouthe world. Thereshouldbe a card cataloguewhich,should elp n locatr 'ng peci f ic i t les. Thehold ings f t he -specialcoi lection are-veiyvaluable as is the entire l ibrary)so be careful not to remove aterials that you havenotcharged ut.

C. TheReference esk s a sourceof qeneral efer-

enceas stanG-anifil6-urcffiF several bib1 ogiaphes andotherguideswhichmay elpyou n locatingspecif ic t i t lesonyour topic. Youmaywant o consult he fol lowing or re-ferences nyour topic:

1. JohnDav' is, heAmerican egroReferenceook,(Pre t ce HaTi, I 96-6-)

2. El izabethMi ] ]er . TheNeqron America: Bib-

1 osraphy, (Harvirill9-76[3. HamyA. Ptoski,Afro-USA: Reference ork

on the BlackExpeFienceJBAfieth-er,mf.

4. DorothyPorter, TheNegro n the US, (XeroxPublcl t ions, '196'9T.

5. Catalogue oldings f l ibraries at HowardUnivers i ty ,F isk Univers i ty , t lantaUniver-sity and he Schomburgo' l lection.

D, Periodicals--Journals,agazines,ndnewspapers.(especial lyback ssuesas well as currentones)shou' ld e in-



c luded or each op ic . The o l low ing shou ldbe consu l ted nthe ReferenceRoom:

Reader 'sGu ide o Per iod ica ' l i te ra tu rem5]-iETtfi' irs Tn oimaT-in seFVJe-NEw-T-or[-TinsTndex.

Governmentubl icat ions shou' ld lso be searched s usefulsources or information about Black peopleand some houldbe inc luded n the b ib1 iography. The o l low ing maybe use fu l :

l . Month ' l y a ta logue f U.S . Governmentub l i ca -t ions

2 . Index o Pub ' l i ca t ionsf the U.S . Congress3 . Congress iona l uar te r l y (CQ) .

2. INVESTIGATION, NALYSIS,PRESENTATION:

THE RESEARCH APER

_ -_Jl,eglgqlgh apgf ouwill do n this partof INTRODUCTI0N

T0AFR0-AMERICANTUDIESill enableou o bnalyzehenater.talson the B lackexper ienceo be covered n d iscuss ions , ss ignedreadings, and supp' lementaryeadings, and to present a synthesiso f th is mater ia l in a c lear ly wr i t ten paper . The our top icsa r e ( l ) R e c o n s t r u c t i o n ;2 ) R u r a l - U r b a ni f e ; ( 3 ) S o c i a lb ' l a s s ;and (4) B lackAutob iography. n add i t ion to comp ' le t inghepaper, students are expected o present a completed nnotatedb ib l iog raphyprepared ccord ing o the gu ' ide l ines bove ur ingthe f i rst stage of work on eachof the four topics.

For each opic there are three questions rom which to choosethe top ic o f your paper . In a ' l l cases , here are two s ides to a l lo f the quest ions ,usua ' l l yp resen tedn the books hat we a re read ing .Paycareful attention to understand' inghe opposing iews, evaluatethe evidencewhich supportseachargument ndyour evaluation ofthe ev idencen your papgr . A11papersare requ i red ( inc lud ing theannota ted ib l ' i og raph ies) . A l l papersmustbe tu rned n on t ime orexpect to

' losecredit for spec' i f iedperiods of lateness.

STYLE

I . A l I p a p e r s h o u l d e l 0 - 1 5 p a g e sn l e n g t h ,e x c ' l u d i n g

l .2 .3 .



2 .

t i t le page, ootnotes,andbibl iographytyped,double-spaced) .

Footnotesndbibl iography re important. Youmustciteoutside eferences onsultedn supportingour argu-

ments, ndyouwil l probab' lyhooseo quote he words fother authors o make our point as c' learlyas possib' le(but only whenootnotes ndquotes dd o the paper'spresentati n . A1

lfootnotesshou'ld e comp'ied on a

single page t the endof the paper's ext. (Refer oTurabian, Manua'lor Writersof TermPapers, heses,andDissertations, -973T.

;rr -t.*t. nri t ten as effectively as yourswil l be

written, andare as important sthey are in clari fying

the important uestionshat have acedandare facingBlackpeople,deserveo be presentedn the best possibleF0RM.Carefu' l ly e-read our paper several imes)check-ing for typingerrors,mis-spe11ings,ndpunctuat ion.Correctal l errors neatlywith a blackball point pen.

3 .

GRADES

1. 60%or four research apers with bibl iography).

2. 15%or midtenn xam.

3. 25% or final exam.

WORK HARD!

FURTHERTHE ANALYSIS!

5'l



=

I . O N T H E R E C O N S T R U C T I O N E R A A N D T H E

S T R U G G L E F O R D E M O C R A C Y . I 8 6 0 . I 8 8 0 .

REQUIRED READING

hl .E .B .DuBo is ,B lqckReconst ruc t ionn Amer ica ,I 860- 880, (t'tew-Toik-,-TthenelmlJ9SS

DESCRIPTIONOF TOPIC: RECONSTRUCTTON

In th is su rveyo f the "h is to ry o f the par t wh ichB lackfolk played n the attempt to reconstruct democracyn Ameri-ca , " l , ' l .E .B . uBo is resen tsa de ta i ' l ed lass ana lys iso f the

causesof the Civi l l ' lar and of the crucial role playedbyB ' lack abor in the ou tcome f tha t s t rugg le . The soc ia lforces leading to the continuedsubjugationof Black peoplein Amer ica f te r the abo l i t i on of s lavery and he unsuccess-ful attempt to establ ish genuinepo' l i t ical denocracyn theSouthdur ing the Reconst ruc t ion ra are a lso de ta i led .

Whi lepay ingcare fu l a t ten t ion to the na t ' iona l rac ia l )oppression f B' lackpeop' le,B' lackReconstruct ion ortraysthe vested nterests of several identi f- iabTecTasses. The

ru l ing c ' lasses e fo re he war were he merchant , ank ing ,anddeve ' lop ingndust r ia l cap i ta ' l i s ts o f the Nor th , and heSouthern lave-ho ld ing lan te r c ' lass . Theoppressedlasseswere he industr ia l workersand the independent mal ' l armerso f the Nor th andWest ,and he poorwh i tes andBlackagr i -cu l tu ra l workers f i r s t s ' laves , hen as f reedmen)n theSouth. The increaseddemandor cotton caused y the expan-s ion o f Br i t i sh indust r ia l cap i ta l i sm ncreased he demandfor co t ton-g rowingand in the U.S . , and o r B lack abor to

grow hat co t ton . Th is was he bas is o f the pr inc ' ipa lcon-tradict ion betweenhe Southern lanter c' lassanC he otherc ' lasses ,ma in ly he Nor thern ap i ta l i s ts , wh ichd id no t wantslavery to expand.

As DuBoisputs i t , "abo' l i t ion-democracyasedon freedom,in te l l i gence andpower or a ' l l men" on f ron ted pushof " in -dustry for pr ivate prof i t d irected by an autocracydeterminedat any price to amass ealth and power." MoreoverDuBoisgoeson to accurately portray how he "abo' l i t ion-democracy"oal ' i -

t i on was emporary ,as t ing on ' l yun t i ' l the dominan tndust r ia lc lass de fea ted he South ,expandedndust r ia l p roduct ion ,opened p the West or growing ts food, and proceededul lspeedwith the monopo' l izat ionf productionand the concentra-t ion o f wea l th . I t was prec ise ly h is same onso l ida t ion fthe ru' l ng Northerncap' i ta ' lst cl ass that DuBoi ci tes noton ly as the bas is o f the exp lo ' i ta t iono f wh i te worker , bu t as



the major orce in the del iberatedismantl ing f the democrat-ic gainsmade uringReconstructionnd he betrayalofBlackpeople. In 1877 edera'l roopswerewithdrawnromthe South andusedalmost mmediatblyo suppressebel' l ionsby rai lroadworkers)whenhe Northern apit l i ists wereassuredhat their contro'lover the national economynd he

U.S.sta te hadbeen onsol ' idated.A majorgoal of BlackReconstructions to assesshe

activities of Black egi-slaToitln-Ehevariousstates of theSouth. Posit iveachievementsike the establ ishmentf thef i rs t publ ic-supportedducat ionalystemn SouthCarol inaare noted. Thepropagandaf racist bourgeo.isistorians e-garding he low character ndbackwardnessf the B' lack lec-torate and heir e' lectedepresentativess disputed y DuBoisusingpat ient lyaccumulatedvidence. n addi t ion,DuBoisdemonstrateshat_giving ol i t ical emancipationo Blackpeo-p1ewas ncidental o the economicesigniof the dominantcap ' i ta1st c lass.

. Chaptersne hrough even rovide he basicclass analy-s is of the per iod,essent ia l or understand' inghe causes,conduct, ndoutcomef the Civi l War. Theatt i tudesof eachclass towardhe struggle eceives xtensivereatment. Thenext two chapters well on the po' l i t ics of the immediateost-

warperiod,andshow ow he class nterestsandnationalchauvinismf President ndrewohnsonnd he forceshe repre-sented bstructed l l attemptso estab' l ish n agrariandemo-cracybased n land reform n the South. Next,DuBois ealswith the achievementsndshortcomingsf the Reconstructiongovernmentsn threestateswith Blackmajorit ies. Landmono-poly, importedapi ta l , f raud, andphysica l epression erefactors that prevented successful xercise f the recentlyacquired ol i t ica l power. In the last chapters, uBoishows

howBlack aborwas eturned o a state of peonagey thecombinedfforts of Northern apital and he majorityof whiteworkerswhohadnot yet comeo see hat their freed-omromexplo i tat ion as nseparably

l inkedto the f reedomf Black

peopl .

QUESTIONSORDISCUSSIONND RESEARCH

l. Werehe economicactors, .e. , the product ione' la-t ions (c lasses) ndproduct ionorces technolo ly ,ndustr ia ' l]gy" l , e tc. ) a t work n the Uni tedStates ver he per iod1854 o 1876 he crucial factors influencing he coirrse fevents uringReconstruction,r were he att i tudesof the"greatmen" e.9. , L inco' ln ndJohnson, umnerndStevens)the determiningactors?



2. D id rac ismand ru l ing c lass in te res ts in te r fe re w i ththe estabj ishment f a genuineproletar ian democracyn theUnited States over the period lB54 to 1876, or was t simplythe backwardnessnd innate infer ior i ty of the newly reed menandwomenhat accountedor the fai ' lure of Black people o

a c h i e v e u l l l i b e r a t i o n ?3. "Whatare American hi ldren taught today about Recon-

s t ruc t ion? Theywou ld n a l l p robab i l i t y comple tehe i reducationwithout any idea of the part which the Black race hasp layed n Amer ica ; f the t remendousora lp rob lem f abo l i t i on ;of the causeandmeaning f the Civi l l , ' lar nd the relat ion whichReconstruct ion as to democratic overnmentnd the labor move-ment oday. Herein ies more han mereomissionand differenceof emphas' is.The treatmentof Reconstruct ion eflects smal l

c red i t uponAmer ican i s to r ians as sc ien t ' i s ts . " D iscuss owthe two schoo lso f h is to ry - -sc ien t i f i c and unsc ien t i f i c - -d is -cussed he ro le o f B lack peop le n the Reconst ruc t ionovern-ments;and whose nterests these two interpretat ions served.

SUPFLEMENTARY READ I NGS

'1.James l len, Reconstruct ion: he Batt le for Democracy,' t865-1876,

(193T.-

2 .

3 .

4 .

Lerone ennett,Reconstruct ion,

B l a c kP o w e r , . S . A . :T667--1WT:(t167T.

Dud ' ley . Corn ish ,TheS:b le .Arm:Negro roops n theU n i o nA r m y , 8 6 ' l - 1 8 6 5 ,' 1 9 5 6 ) .

John Hope( re61) .

B e n j a m i n u a r l e s , h eN e g r on T h eC i v i l Wa r , 1 9 5 3 ) .

Kar l Marxand Freder ickEnqe ls .TheCiv i l War n TheU n i t e dS t a t e s , ( t S S Z 1

! ' l i l l i e LeeRose,Rehearsa lo r R e c o n s t r u c t i o n ,. | 9 6 4 ) .

A l ru theusA. Tay lo r , TheNegro n Tennessee,865- ]880 ,( le4 t .

The HumanS id eo f

Frank l in , Reconst ruc t ionf te r the Civ i ' lWar ,

5 .

6 .

7 .

B .

9 .

10 .

A]' len hl. Tre' lease,White Temor: The KuConspirac.vnd SouthErn 6i6istruct ion,

V e r n o n a n eW h a r t o n , h eN e g r o n M i s s i s s i p p i ,1 8 6 5 - 1 8 9 0 ,1 9 4 7 ) .

K' luxKlan--(197T).

54



2 . O N T H E C H A N G I N G S O C I A L F O R M S O F T H E

B L A C K E X P E R I E N C E-

F R O M R U R A L T O

U R B A N L I F E .

REQUIREDREADINGS

St . C la i r DrakeandHorace ayton ,B lackMet ropo l i s :A Studyof NegroLife in a Northern-Gty, lnarcourte-raceJ945):

Char lesS. Johnson, hadowf the P lan ta t ' i on , Un iver -sity of ChicagoPresslT9-gq[

DESCRIPTIONOF TOPIC: RURAL - URBAN LIFE

In 1890,a quar te r o f a cen tu rya f te r the end o f the C iv i lWar , our ou t o f every ive B lackpeop les t i l l l i ved in ru ra ' la reaso f the Un i tedSta tes . Tenyears la te r in 1900,n ihe ou to f every en were n the South . Andbetween 890and 1910,th ree out o f every ive B lackmenworked n agr icu l tu re . Bycon t ras t , in 1950a lmost h ree o f every en B lackpeop le 28 .2%)l i ved in the Nor th . Be tween9 l0 and 1940, he propor t iono fthe B ' lack opu la t ion es iden t n u rbanareaso f the U.S . in -c reased ron

22.7% o 48 .2%. In 1950,on ly 40 %of the B lackpopu la t ion ' l i vedon fa rmsand he number i acres opera ted e -c l ined 37% o 25 .7 n i l l i on acres . Moreover ,n l95b the Un i tedSta tesCensus ureau epor ted ha t fo r the "non-wh i te "Dopu-la t ion - -95% f wh ichwasBlack- -on1y

|8 .4%wereemployeds

fa rmworkers ,w i th 38% s "b lue co l la r workers" ma in ly ndus-t r ia l ) and34% s "serv ' i ceworkers . " Th is t rans fo rmat ion fthe soc ia l fo rm of the B lackcommuni ty - - f rompredominan t lyagr icu l tu ra l labor ing c lass in the ru ra l Sou th o an in tegra ' lsec to r o f the indus t r ia l p ro le ta r ia t moreconcent ra tedn theurbanNor th - - i s oneof the mosts ign i f i can t soc ia l t rans fo r -mat ions n the h is to ry o f the Un i tedSta tes .

Char lesS. ,Johnson 'shadowf the P lan ta t ion s a s tudvo f one impor tan taspecto f

-TE- is t ransT-on i ra t r -on : :Th-econd i t io -ns

o f l i fe among lack enant fa rmers n ru ra l Macon ounty ,A la -bama nearTuskegee)n the

. |930 's .As a studywh ichsbeks

" to por t ray rea l i s t i ca i l y the l i fe o f a ru ra l Negro ommuni tyu n d e r h e i n f l u e n c eo f a p l a n t a t i o ne c o n o m y , "t i s a c l a s s i c .

I t i s based n ex tens ive n te rv iewswi th 6 . |2 ami l ies , abou t10% f Macon ounty 'spopu la t ion .

The book s compr ised f two ma jo rsec t ions . The i rs tsec t ion s devo ted o the h ' i s to r i ca l backgroundnddeve lopmento f the p lan ta t ion . I t p laces he l i fe o f the B lack ami l iess tud ied n the con tes to f the B lackBe l t Sou thand n the



56

broaderMacon ounty orrnunity. Johnsonhen details the in-ternal structure anddynamicsf the connunity,providingem-pirical data o demonstratets historica1evolutionandstabil i ty. Included re observationsn survivals,patternsof l i fe, socia' lcodes ndatt i tudes shapedn the economyf

slavery, as we1las memoriesf slaveryand armingmethodsremainingrom hat previous eriod. Thesecond ectionfocuses n the comronconomicife andsuch nsti tut ions asthe fami ly ,school , e l ig ion, the church, ecreat ion, ndhea'l th are, a' l l important spects f the general ocio-culturalpattern. Throughouthe entire workweare ab'lenot only tounderstandhe dominantistorical forces hat maintainhestatusquo,but also to grasp he forcescausing hange.

Thevast majorityof Blackpeople uring he early fgOtswereconcentratedn precisely he type of rural B' lack e' l tcommuni tyhat Johnsontudies--51.2%f the U.S.Blackpopu-lat ion

was ound n the BlackBe' l t n 1900. Becauset Lh is,Shadowf the P' lantg!!on rovides ssential nformationora scientitT-sTmy-oFTe'precise characterof the Blackex-perience uring his period.

Many lackpeoplewho eft the rural farmsof the Southmigratedo Northern i t ies undergoingapid changesue othe forcesof industr ia ' l izat ionndurbanizat ion.BlackMetrop-o' l is is a two-volumetudyof onesuchcity--Chicagol-Thestudydiscusses hicagorom ts sett lernenty a Black rades-mann 1790 o the early yearsof Wor' ldWar I. I t is basedon extensiventerviews nd irst-handpart ' icipant-observationsconductedy a team.of nvestigators mployedy the WorkProjectAdministrationI,JPA),governmentob programuring he GreatDepres'ion

Themajorport ionof the two voluness a studyof BlackChicago.Part I si tuates he B' lack orununity--swolleny themassmigrations f the Wor'ld,Jarsn the contextof Chicago,whichwasexperiencinghe sameorcesof social change n abroader ca' le. Part I I is comprisedf casestudiesof thevarioussocial forcesandmechanismshichkeptBIackpeople

segregatedndsubordinatedn the economic,ol i t ical, andsocial

' l i feof Chicago--andinpoints he forceswhichwere

causingr i f ts in the color1ine" n a l l threeof thosearenas.VolumeI is an n-depthnvest igat ion f "Bronzevi ' l ' |e , "heB'lack orrnunity f Chicago. Fourchaptersare devoted o keyBlack nst i tu t ions: he newspaper,hurch, usinesses,nd



" p o 1 i c y " i . e . , t h e n u m b e r s ) .C h a p t e r s8 - 2 3 a r e p r i m a r i ' l yconcerned i th revea ' l inghe in te rna l dynamics f the BIackcommuni ty , i t h the concept f "soc ia l c lasses"p lay ing ap ivo ta l ro le in the in te rp re ta t ion . "0 f Th ingsTo Come"sa project ion of the future trends basedon the wealth of datapresented,and a 196' lupdatehas beenadded.

B lackMet ropo l i sp rov idesan a l l - s ided and n-dep th ooka t the f i r s tp [ tG-o f the h is to r i ca l exper iencehat is s t i l lt he "moda l " the most mpor tan tandwidespread) xper ienceorB l a c kp e o p l e n t h e U . S . o d a y - - l i v i n ga n dw o r k i n g ' i n h e c i t y .Thus, t w i l l he lp us to unders tandhe h is to r i ca l deve lopmentof many f the questionsand issues that are assumingmoreandmore mpor tance u r ing the 1970 's - - the f fec t o f the Depress ion ,increas ing t rugg lesaga ins tunemployment ,n f ' l a t ion andother

soc ia l p rob lems, nd he deve ' lopmentf rad ica l po ' l i t ' i ca ' l ndsoc ia l thoughtandprogramsor rad ica l soc ia ' lchange ndanewsoc ia l o rder .

Both Shadowf the Plantat ion and.Black Metropol is are

excellent exffies ofThe concreTe conalTlons-ofifiEiF-respect i veh is to r i ca l per iods . In add i t ion , bo th booksseek o p lace he cond i t ionsof B lackpeop le in the b roadf rameworkf man 'sexDer iencen the wor ld . " Johnson o testhe "con t ro l [o f ] la rge a reasa l ready n the possess ion fbanks nd insurancecompan iesn sa t is fac t ion o f mor tgagedefau l ts , " and he increas ingpressure f exp lo i ta t ion andoppress ion n the tenan t fa rmers . He conc ludes y ca l l ingfo r "comprehens ivelann ing the comple te eorgan ' i za -

t ' i on o f agr icu ' l tu re n respect o bo th product ' ion ndd is -t r ibu t ion . " DrakeandCayton , n a late r per iod , no te tha tthe prospect f B lackpeop le f i ' l 1 ing the ro le o f wh ipp ingboy for an emerging mericanascism depends ot somuch ponCh icago s upon he poss ' ib i l i t y o f Amer ica ch iev-ing fu l1 employmentn the post -warwor ld andon thc deve lop-mentof a world programor emanc' ipat inghe Commonan."

T h u s o e h a v e ' i n h e s e w o b o o k s o t j u s t c l a s s i c s nmethodo logyndempi r i ca1 a ta , bu t a lso the k ' indo f b roads o c i a l v i s i o n o f B l a c k i b e r a t i o n t h a t i s t h e h a l l m a r k fthe sci ent i i c trad' i t i on of Black i nte ' l ectual work. I t i sth is same ha l leng ing ' i s iono f the newwor ld tha t we musthe lp to bu i ' l d tha t shou ld nsp ' i reour s tudy and s t rugg le dur -ing the presen tper iod .

F.7



C. Questionsor DiscussionndResearch:

l. Thesocial characterof a connunitys based n theclass structureof i ts inhabitants nd ts racial composit ion.Using he categoriesof race andclass, comparehe socialcharacter f Macon ountyn'1930 ndChicagon the '1940's.Include n your discussionhe causes ndsocial consequencesof the second reat migrationof B'lack eople rom he ruralSouth o the urbanNorth.

2. In whatwaysdoes he socia'l characterof rural MaconCounty as discussedn Shadowf the Plantatlon)compareothe areayou live in nowls iEwasTn TtreTIilOtt Discuss imi-lari t ies anddifferences.

3. Discusshe concluding ssay n BlackMetropolis n-titled "0f Things o Come." Comparets pi-ojectT6fr-fitfi-the196' l nd1969 ppendices.Consideringecentstatist ical dataon the currentsituation in the l i fe andstruggles f the urbanBlackworkers,what s the usefulnessf BlackMetropolisnunderstandingthesecondi t ions,andhencelh ' -angTnj t -hemI

SUPPLEMENTAR READINGS

l .

RURAL

l,|a]terF. l,lhite, Rope nd Faggot: A Biography f ,ludgeLynch, 1929, n ynching) .

HarryHayrvood,egro iberation, (1948).

CharlesS. Johnson, rowinglp in the BlackBelt: NegroYouth n the nural-Soilth-lf]9[]T.

-

Charles . Johnson, dwin . Embreend dil ' l Alexander,TheCo]lapse f CottonTenancy,tSeS1.

Howard ester, RevoltAmonghe Sharecroppers,1936).

Hylan Lewi , B'l ckways f Kent (1955 .

Hortense owdermaker,fter Freedom: Cultura'lStudyin the DeepSouth,('1939T.

2 .

3 .

4 .

5 .

6 .

7 .

58



8 . Arthur F. Raper,Preface o Peasantry: Iqle of IUqBlacksett cbuntieuTt36-J

Morton ubin,P' lantat ion ounty,195]) .

CarterG. Woodson,heRura lNegro, tgSO).

URBAN

JohnBracey, l [ . , e t . a l . n €d . , TheRise o f the Ghet to ,(1 71

Chicago onrnissionn RaceRelations,TheNegron Chicago:A Studyof RaceRelationsand a RacenTffi,-TiFZ2T.

JohnHenryClarke,Harlem: A Comrnunitan Transit ion,(1e6e)

Kenneth ' lark,Dar[ Ghetto:Dilemmasf Social Power,( re65)

l ^ l .E.B. uBois, hePhi ' ladelphiaegro,'1899).

Hol ' l isR. Lynch,he 814k Uqba4 ondil !9-!.,1866-197]

,(1s73 )

Constanceclaughlin reen,Xe Sec!|et i ty: A Historyof RaceRelatiois n The tit lon's -apitaTJt-%Zl.

-

Gi'lbert 0sofsky,Ha|em: |e Uelilg of_a Ghetto,NegroNewYork, tego-igm';ng66T.

- -

Al len H. Spear,BlackChicago:TheMakinq f a NegroGhet to , ' 1890- '1920 ,1967) .

10. RobertWeaver, heNegroGhetto, 1948).

9 .

1 0 .

l .

2 .

J .

4 .

7 .

8 .

9 .

5 .6 .

59



3. ON THE CLASS STRUCTURE OF BLACK PEOPLE- PROLETARIAT, PETTY BOURGEOISIE, AND

BOURGEOISIE.

REQUIRED READINGS

Abram . Harris and Sterlins D. Spero,TheBlackblorker:TheNegro ry! he LaborMovement,-(1931T.

E. Frankl inFrazier, BlackBourseoisie, heRiseof a NewMiddleclass i1 the unftAI @(|_967T.

DESGRIPTI@N F TOPIC: SOCIAL CLASS

Thesocial structure of a society, andall of its con-stituent peoples ndcorununities,s "a'lwayaundarnentallybased n its social classes. This is true for the UnitedStatesas for all societies that haveever existed, althoughthe specific clais characterof eachsociety is based n the

particular historical condit ions f that society. Thehis-tory of Black people n the UScan therefore be understoodbest if the historical developnentf classes n the US(particularlyof Blackpeople) s thi basisonwhich t isdone. So this area of study s a basic frameworkor theentlre fie'ld of Afro-Americantudies.

TheBlac&Up!:G!l s "an effort to set forth descrip-tively anil-anatlffidTty the results of a study of the Aireri-

can abor movenBntn oneof its most mpo_rtantspects, . -namely, hs-relation of the domlnaht Ccli6nof the workingclass to the segregated, ircumscribed, nd restrictedNeqrominoritv." BlackBourqeoisieet out "to makesoii o1og ca ina yET-0tffiEEfi a-vi r, the atti tudes, andvaluesof the "blaekbourgeoisle . ." Together,hesetwo books umup the origin of the existing classes hatunderglrd he soclal structure of Afro-Anerican eople.

Spero ndHarrts, in the Black lorker, focus on 4 basicfactorS: (l ) "the persistence fTh"e-Negro'slave heritage,"(2) "the exclusivecraft structure of the leading abororganizations," 3) "the changen the Negroe'sundanentalrelation to industry resulting fromthe recentmigrationsandthe abioiptlon into the mills:and factories of a substantial

60



part of the reserveof b' lack abor," and (4) "the r ise of aNegrom'idd1e lass and the consequentpreadof middle c' lassideals throughout he Negrocommunity."As the study wascompletedn the middle of the Great Depression, his approachhas the added mportance f showing ow he cr isis facing

B' lackworkers s connectedo the cr isis facing the entiresociety.

Th is s tudy s organ ' i zedn 5 sec t ' ions , ha t inc lude 2 lchapters. The irst sect ion sums p "the heri tage of slavery"in two chap te rs . Themaincon t r ibu t iono f the s tudy s inthe next four sec t ions . Th is dea lswi th the pro le ta r ian iza-t ion o f the B lackmasses nd he i r re la t ionsh ip o wh i teworkers , rade un ions ,and he B lackmidd lec ' lass . Th is vo lumeshou ldbe read n th ree s tages: ( l ) Sec t ions and 2 (7 chapte rs ) ,(2 ) Sect ion3 (6 chapte rs ) ; (3) Sect ions and 5 (8 chapte rs ) .

Frazier begins his study of The B' lackBourgeois' ie y trac-ing the h is to r i ca l re la t ionsh ipo f A f ro -Amer icanso the deve lop-m e n to f c a p i t a l i s m , . 9 . , t h e T r i a n g u l a r t l a n t i c S l a v eT r a d e ,p lan ta t ion .sys temf agr icu l tu re , andwar - t ime ndust r ia ' l i za t ion .Thes ign ' i f i can th is to r i ca l deve lopmentf th is ana ' l ys is s tha t" the re la t i ve s ize o f the b lack bourgeo is ien the Negro opu ' la -t ion has ncreased u r ing he past decade 1940 's ) a rge ly be-

cause he proport ' ionof Negroworkers n cler ical and kindredoccupations as more han doubledand the proport ion of femalecler ica' l workersquadrup' ledince

.|940."

The book s in two sections: The {or ld of Real i ty and Thet lo r ld o f Make e l ieve . " . . . the f i r s t be ing he rea l o rob jec t i ve ly ex is t ing economicond i t ionand soc ia l s ta tus o fthe 'b lack bourgeo is ie ' n the Un ' i ted ta tes , and he secondbe ing he s tandards f behav io r ndva lueso f the iso la ted soc ia l

world of th ' is segment f the Negropopu' lat ion,

which has comein to ex is tence s a consequencef rac ia l d isc r im ina t ionandrac ia l segrega t ' ion . "Th is bookcan be read n two s tages.

These wo bookscover the main classes of the Afro-Americanpeople. I t doesnot cover farmers, d' isplacedworkers (unem-p loyed ,we1fa re ec ip ien ts , e tc . ) and he " lumpen ro le ta r ia t . "Bu t the samemethodo logyha t i s used ' in bo th can be app ' l iedto a l l c ' l asses . There fo re ,a ' l thoughhesebooks on ' t cover a l lc ' lasses f Black people hey havehe' lped ead the way n gett ing

the to ta l ana lys isdone.

QUESTIONSFOR DISCUSSIONAND RESEARCH

1. Harr is and Sperowrote "the obstac' leswhich econom-

61



i c rad ica ' l i sm ad o overcomen order to ga in some ccep-tance n Negro i fe were : (1) the Negro 'so r thodox e l ig ioust rad ' i t i ons ; (2 ) the growing reva lence f Negromidd le -c lassideo logy ;and (3) rac ia l an tagon ismetween h i te andb lackw o r k e r s . " p . 3 9 8 ) D i s c u s sh e s p e c i f i c s o c i a l c o n t e n t f

eachof the above h ree obstac les ,and he ro le o f t radeun ionsand he B lackpress .

2 . Compare ,n de ta i l , the spec i f i c a t t i tudes o f theB lackpro le ta r ia t and he B lackbourgeo is ' ien the quest ' iono f race re la t ions . How oes h is genera la t t i tude show pi n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r n s t a n c ew h i c hH a r r i s a n dS p e r o i s c u s s :"For th ree hundred ears the Negro as beenkept ' in a pos i t iono f soc ia ' landeconomicn fe r io r i ty , andwh i te o rgan izedabor ,

dom' ina tedy the he ' i ra rchy f t he sk i l l ed c ra f ts , has no de-s i re to see h im emergerom ha t cond i t ion . Theeduca tecleaderso f the Negro ee on ly the rac ia l aspecto f th is s i t -u a t i o n .

3 . Fraz ie r , in B lackBourgeo ' i s ie ,eg insh is ' inves t i -

ga t ionso f " the wor ld o f rea1 i ty , " by d iscuss ing he h is to r i -ca ] roo ts andeconomic as is o f the B lackmidd le c lass . Hamisand Spero n d iscuss ing he B lackpro le ta r ia t beg inwi th thecompet i t ion e tween lackandwh i te ' labor dur ing the s ' lave

reg imes. The i r ne thod s to unders tandhe economicmater ia l )forces at work in society and then to interpret the social andp o f t i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s . s i n gb o t h o f t h e i r w o r k s ,d i s c u s s :

A . the educa t ion ndoo l i t ' i cs o f the B lackpro-le ta r ia t and he educa t ion ndpo l i t i cs o f thb g lack

bourgeo ii e ;

B. what mater ial forces descr ibedby the two ref-

e renceswh ' i ch ou ' ld ccoun t o r thesed i f fe rences.

SUPPLEMENTARYREAD NGS

PROLETARIAT

I , I . E . B . u B o i s , h eN e g r o r t i s a n , ( . I 9 0 2 ) ..

2 P h i l l i p S . F o n e r ,O r g a n ' i z e dt 6 t 9 - 1 9 7 3 , 1 9 7 4 )

Laborand he B]ackWorker ,

The MarchonPoTitr-cs for

3 . Herber tR. Gar f inke l , When egroes a rch :Washigton Movementn-TheOrganilzaTTonal

@,T1-e5e

62



8 .

9 .

10 .

4 .

5 .

6 .

7 .

2 .

3 .

4 .

5 .

6 .

8 .

9 .

1 0 .

ug1lqftNorthrop, t.al., TheNegron Anericanndustry,(1e68) .

Ifq L Reid,NegroMenbershipn AmericanaborUnions,(1e30

RobertC. Weaver, egro abor:A Nationa' l roblem,1946).

Char lesWesley, egro aborn the Uni tedStates, 850-1925,(1e27)

laymgnd. Walters,Negroesnd he GreatDepression: heP ob emof Economi

-Recoveryf,l tO) .

CarterG. WoodsonndLorenzoGreen,TheNegroWage arner,

( tssolU.S. Departmentf Labor,Divisionof Negro conomics,TheNegro t WorkDgl_!g.he WorldhlarandDuringRecon-sTFuction,--(l9nT.-

BOURGEOISIE

t. l .E.B. uBois,The a]ented enth," n W.E.B. uBois

andBooker . t lashington,ds., TheNegro roblem,]903)andTheNegron Business,1899T.

G. Frankl inEdwards,heNegro rofessional lass, 1959).

E. Frank' l in raziero Durham:api ta lo f the BlackMiddleC ]ass , "n A la inLocke , t . , TheNew egro ,1925) .

E. Frankl inFrazier ,TheFreeNegro ami ]y, tg:Z).

CharlesS. Johnson, heNegroCo]' lege raduate,1938).

AugustMeieramdDavid ewis, Historyof the NegroUpper lass n At lanta,Gerogia,B90-. |958,"ournal fNegro ducat ion,Spr ings, 959).

Joseph . Pierce,Negro usinessndBusinessducat ion,(1 4b)

LouisRobinson,r . , TheB' lack i l l ionaires

(1972).

t,la'llace

Thruman,heBlacker he Bemy, (1929)

Carter G. Woodson,heNegroProfessionalMan nd heCorununity,1934).

t .

7 .

63



AYA (the irn).Thiswordalsomeans' lamnotafraid f you"

A symbolof defiance.



2 .

3 .

Malco]m , 0nAfro-Americanistory, (1967).

By AnyMeans ecesg{y:Speeches,nterviews,anda*LetffiWcomT;-11emT.

TheEndof tlhite Wor'ld upremacy: ourSpeechesal'lalcdinF ngn.

t l .E.B.DuBoisn0f Booker . l , lashingtonndOthers,"in Sou]s f B lackFolk, (1903).

Steohen . Fox.TheGuardianf Boston: l i l l iamMonroeTroiter, (tgzo)

7. AugustMeier,Negro houghtn America, 880-19]5,tS0f1.

8. Booker . tlashington,!9 Futureof the American dgro'( 'r8ee).

9. Booker . t lashington, heNegron Business,1907).

o ANIBERE ENSOGYA(Redeyes annot l ight he fire.)Your anger annot set me on fire.

You cannot frightenme bypretendingo be angry. Another

symbolof defiance.

4 .

5 .

6 .

67



RESOURCESPUBLICATIONS ANDRESEARCH CENTERS

1. AFRICANED AIVIILY;goodsource or revo' lut ionaryperspectiveson the current Afr ican situation.(Quar te r l y . Ava i lab le romTimbuktu ooks ,P . 0 . B o x7 6 9 6 ,C h i c a g o , l l i n o i s 6 0 6 8 0 )

2. AFRICAN ORLD;he best sourceof monthlydevelopmentsin the B lack ' l i be ra t ionmovement ,spec ia l l y he an t i -imperial ist student movement.TheAfr ican WorldRe-source Center is a goodsource of fTTms,-paff iTdts, and

other resources. l^ l r i te for further detai ls. (P.0. Box2 4 1 3 ,W a s h ' i n g t o n ,. C . , 2 0 0 ] 3 )

3. BLACK CH0LAR;n ' importantmonthly eview of BlackStud iesand he th ink ing of B ' lack n te1 lec tua lss ince'1969 .

(p .0 . gox908, Sausa lto , CA, 94965)

4 . BLACK 0RLD; wide ly ava i lab ]emonth ly ev iew n mat te rso f B lackcu l tu re , w i th annua l ssueson poet ry , d rama,and o ther spec ia l top ics , ( lgZOS. Mich igan venue,C h i c a g o , ' l i n o i s , 6 0 6 . | 6 )

5. J0URNALF BLACK TUDIES;uarter ly since.|970

thatserves as a vehicle for adacemicesearch.

6. J0URNALF NEGROIST0RY; quarter ' ly publ icat ion ini t iat-ed by the Associat ion or the Studyof NegroLife and His-t o r y i n 1 9 1 6 .

7. MONTHLYEVIET^I;goodsource of corrnentary y radicalsoc ia l sc ien t i s ts , ed i ted by po l i t i ca l economis ts .

PE0PLESOLLEGERESS;xpanding esourcecenter forpo l i t i ca ' l educa t ionmater ia lson the B Iack ibera t ion move-ment ,an t i - imper ia l i s t s t rugg le , andwor ' ld evo ' lu t ion .W r i t e o r a l i s t o f a v a i ' l a b ' l eu b ' l i c a t i o n s .P . 0 . B o x7 6 9 6 ,Chi ago, I I

' li nois 60680

REVIET^IF BLACK OLITICALCON0MY;' ince|970,

one of the

leading centers and ournals is ref lect ' ing some f the cur-ren t th ink ing on economicsmong iackpeop le . Spec ia lpubl icat ions on the land question n the rura' l South, Pfo-per ty taxes n Miss iss ipp i , andB lack ncomes

|947- . |950

are ava i lab ' le . (B lackEconomic esearch en te r , l2 West120 thSt ree tnNewYork , NY, 10027)

8 .

9 .



10. UNi0NFRADICALOLITICALCON0MISTSURPE);n organi-zationwhichattemptso deve' lop radica' lperspectiveon the cument r is is of imper ia l ism.Severa l ubl ica-t ions are available. (URPEffice of 0rganizational er-v ' i ces ,Mich igann ion , nnArbor ,MI ,48104)

SOURCES FORAUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS

AUDIO-VISUALESOURCES(Wr i te each o r up to da te ca ta logue ndpr ices . )

TRICONTENTALILMCENTERP.0 . Box4430,Berke ley ,CA,94704244 dest27th St., NewYork, NY,

10001

IMPACTILMS'144BleekerStreet

N e w o r k ,N . Y . 1 0 0 1 2

NEllYORKERILMS43 West6' lst StreetNewYork , NY, 10023

AUDIO RANDONILMS8400Brookf ie ldAve . ,Brook f ie ld , IL 605 . |3

THIRDWoRLDEIISREEL

26 West20th StreetNewYork , NY, 00 l l

AFRICAN 0RLDESR0UCEENTERF'i lms)P.0 . Box24. |3Wash ing ton , .C. , 20013

PAREDONECORDSP.0 . Box889

B r o o k l y n ,N Y , l 2 1 2

FOLKl,lAYSECORDS701 7th AvenueNewYork, NewYork 10036

Documents

Foundations of Black Social Thought