Racial prejudices and conflicts as found in selected American novels published between 1928 and 1949

207 Pages·07.505 MB·English

by  Seeley, Robert Marshall

RACIAL PREJUDICES AND CONFLICTS AS POUND IN SELECTED
AMERICAN NOVELS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1928 AND 1949
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Sociology
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Sociology
by
Robert Marshall Seeley
August 1951
UMI Number: EP65702
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This thesis, written by
Robert Marshall Seeley......
under the guidance of hX&—Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
Mas t er. .of ..Arts.., In.. Soc_iol_ogy....
S
Faculty Committee
Chairman
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE.PROBLEM AND THE NATURE OP THE STUDY . . 1
The problem........................ 1
Statement of the problem.............. 1
The purpose of the study . . . . . . . 1
Importance of the study............... , 2
Limitations of the s t u d y .......... 10
Definitions of terms used............. 11
Race • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 12
^ Ethnic group ........................ 12
Prejudice........... 13
Discrimination......... . '..... 14
Attitudes......................... * . 14
* Adjustment......... 14
Antipathy ...................... 15
Conflict........................ 15
Cultural conflict . . . ............ 16
J
Intercultural ....................... 16
Organization of the remainder of the
thesis.......................... 17
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS OP S T U D Y ......... 19
Review of previous studies... .......... 19
ill
CHAPTER PAGE
' The social significance of Norwegian
literature..................... . 20
The contemporary Negro novel ........ 21
Special emphasis of this s t u d y .... 24
Sources of data.................... 26
Primary sources ...................... 26
Secondary sources .................... 26
Methods used in the study . . . . . . . . 27
The library method.............. 27
The descriptive-comparative method . . 27
III. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OP RACE PREJUDICE
IN THE UNITED STATES.............. 29
The Pre-Abolition era . .............. 30
The development of a philosophy of
slavery in America............ 31
The status of the Negro slave.... 34
The era of Reconstruction.......... 35
The influence of the Black Codes during
Reconstruction .................... 36
The influence of military rule on the
growth of prejudice during Reconstruc­
tion .............................. 39
The restoration of white supremacy . . 42
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
The development of prejudice in the era
following Reconstruction .......... 42
' IV. INEQUALITIES OP SEGREGATION AS POUND IN
SELECTED AMERICAN NOVELS, 1928 TO 1949 • 45
The nature of segregation.............. 46
Educational segregation as presented in
the novel............................ 48
The attitudes of the white man toward
educational segregation ............ 49
Negro attitudes toward educational
segregation........................ 55
Social segregation of Negroes .......... 60
Segregation of Negroes in public dining
rooms ...................... 61
Exclusion of Negroes from theaters
frequented by whites . .......... 63
Social restriction of Negro-white
relationships............... 64
Segregation of Negroes in the use of
transportation facilities ............
JO
Vocational and professional segregation . 75
Vocational limitations .............. 75
Professional limitations ............ 79
V
CHAPTER PAGE
Residential segregation ................ 84
The poor quality of Negro housing . . . 86
The economic injustice of residential
segregation........... 90
Conclusions........................ 92
V. INTERRACIAL CONFLICTS AS FOUND IN SELECTED
NOVELS OF RACE RELATIONS.......... 99
Intimidation as a method of social
restraint........................ 99
Intimidation................. . 99
The utilization of intimidation . . . 101
Methods of intimidation . . . . . . . 105
Individual brutality as found in the novel
of race relations......... 106
/. Race riots as found in the race relations
novel................. 109
Some of the "causes” of race riots . . 110
The nature of race r i o t s ........ 114
Lynching as found in the novel on race
relations........................ 118
Lynching as a form of interracial
conflict............. 119
Lynching as a form of social injustice 123
Vi
CHAPTER PAGE
The social effects of lynching upon
race relations . . ............. 126
VI. MISCEGENATION AND INTERRACIAL RELATIONS . . 134
Negro-white attitudes toward miscegenation 135
The attitude of a Negro man and a white
woman united in extra^legal marriage 135
A Negro attitude favoring miscegenation
as a method of overcoming the feeling
of racial inferiority ................ 137
The unfavorable attitude of a white man
toward miscegenation ................ 140
The favorable, but reserved, attitude
of a white man toward miscegenation . 142
The unfavorable attitude of a Negro
toward miscegenation ................ 143
Conclusions.................... . . . 148
The social effects of miscegenation upon
the individual................... 149
The social effects in terms of social
ostracism....................... 150
The social effects of miscegenation
upon the passer.................... 1^4
Conclusions....................... 157
vii
CHAPTER PAGE
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS OF CERTAIN AMERICAN
NOVELISTS FOR IMPROVING RACE RELATIONS • 160
Improvement of race relations through
changes in social attitudes ........... 162
The improvement of race relations
through increased Negro-white asso­
ciation ............................ 166
A social barrier to more intimate
social interaction ................ 16?
The social effects of increased
association................... . . . 169
Recognition and elimination of the
problems of prejudice ................ 170
^ Cultural and social advancement of the
Negro ethnic g r o u p .................. 173
The improvement of Negro culture and
social status through acceptance of
white supremacy.................... 173
The improvement of cultural character­
istics through education .......... 177
Summary and conclusion ................ 178
VIII. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS . l8l
BIBLIOGRAPHY........... 193
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND THE NATURE OP THE STUDY
I. THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem. This study is concerned
with.an examination and sociological analysis of antagon­
ism and prejudice as found in the works of certain Araericai
novelists, published between the years 1928 and 19^9*
Through comparison with the findings of social scientists,
and with current history, it will seek to indicate that
these American novelists have presented in many instances
an accurate reflection of ethnic and racial problems as
they exist in the American culture of the period,;
The purpose of the study. The objectives of
this study are as follows: (1) To present a brief ex­
amination of the maimer in which novels produced since
the nineteenth century have presented accurate reflections
of the ethnic relations as they existed in the contempo­
rary society, and in what ways these novels may have
been influential in calling attention to social wrongs
and injustices. For this purpose, referral will be made
to secondary sources which have dealt with this problem.