1st Edition
African-American Social and Political Thought 1850-1920
In bringing together the most characteristic and serious writings by black scholars, authors, journalists, and educators from the years that preceded the modem civil rights movement, 'African-American Social and Political Thought' provides a comprehensive guide to the range and diversity of black thought. The volume offers a deep history of how the terms of contemporary debate over the future of black Americans were formed. The writings assembled here reveal a tension and a thread between two essential poles of thought. These include those voices that clearly projected civic assimilation as the goal of black aspiration, and those who described how this aim would be achieved, as well as nationalist or separatist voices that despaired of ever having a dignified future in a biracial society. These two positions reflect the most fundamental questions faced by any minority group. In his forceful and courageous introduction to this new edition, Howard Brotz relates the thoughts and reflections of these black thinkers to the social and political situation of blacks in America today and argues against the political orthodoxy and sociological determinism that perpetuates the image of the black as a perennial and passive victim. In the scope and quality of its contents, African-American Social and Political Thought is a unique, invaluable source book for cultural historians, sociologists, and students of black history.
INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION
FOREWORD
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION: A GUIDE TO THE MATERIALS
PART I Emigration
MARTIN R . DELANY
The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny
of the Colored People of the United States
(abridged)
Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring
Party (excerpt)
EDWARD W. BLYDEN
The Call of Providence to the D e s c e h t s of
Africa in America
The African Problem and the Method of Its Solution
JAMES T. HOLLY
A Vindication of the Cafiacity of the Negro Race
for Self-Government a d Civilized Progress
ALEXANDER CRUMMELL
The Relations and Duties of Free Colored Men in
America to Africa (excerpt)
The Race Problem in America
AFRICAN CIVILIZATION SOCIETY
Constitution
Part II Assimilation
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET
The Past and the Present Condition, a d the Destiny
of the Colored Race (excerpt)
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
What Are the Colored People Doing for Themselves?
An Address to the Colored People of the United States
Prejudice Not Natural
The Nature of Slavery
Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered
The Doom of the Black Power
Speech on the Dred Scott Decision
African Civilization Society
The Present and Future of the Colored Race in America
What the Black Man Wants
Address before the Tennessee Colored Agricultural
and Mechanical Association
The Civil Rights Case
The Future of the Negro
The Future of the Colored Race
The Nation's Problem
The Folly of Colonization
T. THOMAS FORTUNE
Education
Political Independence of the Negro
Solution of the Political Problem
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
The Educational Outlook in the South
Atlanta Exposition Address
Our New Citizen
Democracy and Education
Address Delivered at Hampton Institute
Letter to the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention
An Interview on the Hardwick Bill
On Making Our Race Life Count in the Life of the Nation
Early Problems of Freedom
Progress of the American Negro
The Negro and the Labor Problem of the South
The Fruits of Industrial Truining
The American Negro and His Economic Value
The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob
The Mistakes and the Future of Negro Education
Is the Negro Having a Fair Chance?
My View of Segregation Laws
ARCHIBALD H. GRIMKE
Modern Industrialism and the Negroes of the United States
PART III Cultural Nationalism
WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS
The Conservation of Races
The Philadelphia Negro (excerpt)
Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others
The Talented Tenth
Declaration of Principles of the Niagara Movement
Resolutions of the Niagara Movement
The Evolution of the Race Problem
PART IV The Revival of Political Nationalism
MARCUS GARVEY
Race Assimilation
The True Solution of the Negro Problem
An Appeal to the Soul of White America
Racial Reforms and Reformers
Who and What Is a Negro?
An Appeal to the Conscience of the Black Race to See Itself
The Negro's Place in World Reorganization
Aims and Objects of Mouement for Solution of Negro Problem
Racial Ideals
Sources and Acknowledgments
Index
Biography
Howard Brotz