THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA The Immigrant Heritage of America

184 Pages·2002·0.52 MB·English

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA
The Immigrant Heritage of America
By Norman Coombs
Publisher: Twayne, (c 1972)
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Part One
From Freedom to Slavery 7
CHAPTER1
AfricanOrigins 7
TheHumanCradle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
WestAfricanEmpires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
TheCultureofWestAfrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER2
TheHumanMarket 19
TheSlaveTrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CaribbeanInterlude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CHAPTER3
SlaveryasCapitalism 28
TheShapeofAmericanSlavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
NorthAmericanandSouthAmericanSlavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
SlaveryandtheFormationofCharacter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
SlaveResponse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chapter4
AllMenAreCreatedEqual 43
SlaveryandtheAmericanRevolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
SlaveInsurrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
CONTENTS 3
GrowingRacism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PART TWO
Emancipation Without Freedom 53
Chapter5
ANationDivided 53
BlackModeratesandBlackMilitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
WhiteLiberals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
GrowthofExtremism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
CHAPTER6
FromSlaverytoSegregation 66
Blue,Gray,andBlack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
ReconstructionandItsFailure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
TheNewRacism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
CHAPTER7
RacismandDemocracy 80
FightingJimCrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
MakingtheWorldSafeforDemocracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
UrbanRiots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
TheKlanRevival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
PART THREE
The Search For Equality 96
CHAPTER8
TheCrisisofLeadership 96
TheDebateoverMeansandEnds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
BookerT.Washington: TheTrumpetofConciliation . . . . . . . . . . 98
W.E.B.DuBois: TheTrumpetofConfrontation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
MarcusGarvey: TheTrumpetofPride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
A.PhilipRandolph: TheTrumpetofMobilization . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
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CHAPTER9
TheNewNegro 119
ImmigrationandMigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Harlem: ’ThePromisedLand’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
TheNegroRenaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
BlackNationalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
CHAPTER10
FightingRacismatHomeandAbroad 138
HardTimesAgain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
TheSecondWorldWar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
TheU.S.andtheU.N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
CHAPTER11
CivilRightsandCivilDisobedience 153
SchoolsandCourts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
TheCivilRightsMovement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CHAPTER12
TheBlackRevolt 166
CivilDisorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
BlackPower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Preface 5
Preface
During the last several years, the study of American history has turned a new
direction. Previously, it emphasized how the various immigrant groups inAmer-
ica shed their divergent heritages and amalgamated into a new nationality. More
recently, scholars and laymen alike have become more sensitive to the ways in
whichthesenewcomershavekeptaspectsfromtheirpastalive,andthereisanew
awarenessofthedegreetowhichethnicitycontinuesasaforcewithinAmerica.
Most of the original settlers were British, Protestant, and white. Many of the
later arrivals differed from them, in one or more ways. History books usually de-
picted these new waves of immigrants as assimilating almost fully into American
society. However, recent writings have put more stress on the ethnic diversities
which remain and on the rich variety of contributions which were made to the
Americanscenebyeachnewnationality.
This volume depicts the immigrants from Africa as one among the many ele-
ments which created present-day America. On the one hand, they differ from the
otherminoritiesbecausetheycameinvoluntarily,sufferedthecrueltiesofslavery,
and were of another color. All of this made their experience unique. On the other
hand,theysharedmuchincommonwiththeotherminorities,manyofwhomalso
feltlikealiensintheirnewland.
Throughout most of American history, political power has been held tightly
by the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant majority. Historical presentations which
stressed the political component, thereby tended to leave the later immigrants in
the background. However, because these newcomers did not assimilate fully into
the mainstream of America, they maintained some of their ethnic identity and
made fresh and unique contributions to American life. A socio-cultural approach
to history, through highlighting society and culture rather than politics, brings
theseminoritiesintoproperfocus.
This study of Afro-Americans seeks to describe the character and culture
whichtheyproducedforthemselvesinAmerica. Italsopointstothemanyimpor-
tant contributions which they have made to American cultural life. The spotlight
is on what they felt and thought, on the attitudes they developed, and on their
increasingly vocal protests against the unfair treatment which they believed was
directedatthem.
Besides taking a socio-cultural approach to the subject, this book is deliber-
ately interpretive rather than being merely a narrative of events. It is reasonably
briefinthehopethatitwillappealtointerestedlaymen. Atthesametime,itcon-
tains a number of footnotes so that either scholars or laymen, wanting to check
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their thoughts against the interpretation presented here, can readily use this book
asaguidetofurtherreading. (Notethefootnotesarenotinthiselectronicversion.)
Ifattimesthetreatmentofthewhitemajorityseemsharsh,itisbecause,inmy
opinion,itisstillnecessaryforAmericanstotakealong,coldlookatthechilling
facts which have too often been ignored. Yet, times and people do change. Race
relations in America are not today what they were a century ago. The progress
ofhistorymaynotbethewidehighwaymovingsteadilyandsmoothlyupwardas
manyhavebelieved,buttheracialpictureinAmericahasalteredandwillcontinue
to do so- -sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Nevertheless, it is
only by knowing ourselves that we can intelligently face our crises. I hope that
thisvolumewillassistthereaderashestruggleswiththisdifficulttask.
NormanCoombsSeptember,1971
Acknowledgements 7
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep appreciation to the National Endowment for the
Arts and Humanities and to the Rochester Institute of Technology for providing
me with much of the time which made this research possible. I am also indebted
toProfessorsBenjaminQuarlesandMerleCurtiforkindlyreadingandcomment-
ing on the manuscript. My thanks are also extended to my father, Earl Coombs,
for his invaluable assistance in helping with the hours of painstaking research de-
mandedbysuchaproject. MissDorothyRuhlprovidedthedetailed,carefullabor
necessary to help prepare the manuscript for the printer, and Mrs. Doris Kist per-
formed the demanding task of proofreading it. I also want to thank Cecyle S.
Neidle, the editor of the Immigrant Heritage of America series, for her helpful
supervision and advice. Finally, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my wife, Jean,
for typing the manuscript, for a host of other miscellaneous tasks and, above all,
forherforbearanceandencouragement.
N.C.
Part One
From Freedom to Slavery
CHAPTER 1
African Origins
The Human Cradle
three and a half centuries of immigration have injected ever-fresh doses of ener-
gykk and tension into the American bloodstream. As diverse peoples learned to
live together, they became a dynamo generating both creativity and conflict. One
ofthemostdiverseelementsinAmericanlifewasintroducedwhenAfricanswere
forcibly brought to the American colonies. The American experiment had begun
andconsistedmainlyofwhitemenwithaEuropeanheritage. TheAfricanwasof
adifferentcolor,hadadifferentlanguage,adifferentreligion,andhadanentirely
different world view. But perhaps the most striking contrast was that, while the
Europeancamevoluntarilyinsearchofgreaterindividualopportunity,theAfrican
cameinchains. BecausetheEuropeanwasthemasterandtherebythesuperiorin
the relationship, he assumed that his heritage was also superior. However, he was
mistaken, because the African had a rich heritage of importance both to himself
and to mankind. When people interact intimately over a long period of time, the
influencesarereciprocal. Thisistrueevenwhentheirrelationshipisthatofmaster
andslave.
To trace the importance of the African heritage one must go back millions of
years. EvidenceisaccumulatingtotheeffectthatAfricaisthecradleofmankind.
Professor Louis Leakey argues that Africa was important in the development of
mankind in three ways. First, some thirty or forty million years ago, the basic
stock which eventually gave rise to both man and the ape came into existence in
thevicinityoftheNileValley. Second,sometwelveorfourteenmillionyearsago,
the main branch which was to lead to the development of man broke away from
the branch leading to the ape. Third, about two million years ago, in the vicinity
of East Africa, true man broke away from his now extinct manlike cousins. The
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present species of man-Homo Sapiens—developed through a complex process of
naturalselectionfromalargenumberofdifferentmanlikecreatures-hominids.
OneofthemostnumerousoftheearlyhominidswasAustralopithecusAfricanus
who originated in Africa. Although he also did some hunting, he lived mainly by
collecting and eating vegetables. One of the things that identified him as a man
washisutilizationofprimitivetools. Hehadapointedstonewhichmayhavebeen
used to sharpen sticks, and these sticks were probably used for digging roots to
augment his food supply. Leakey believes that Homo Habilis, who lived in East
Africa about two million years ago, was the immediate ancestor of man and the
most advanced of all the hominids. Although the hominids spread far outside of
Africa, it is clear that they originate there and that it was in Africa that true man
firstemerged. AsDarwinpredictedacenturyago,Africahasbeenfoundtobethe
fatherofmankind.
For many thousands of years, Homo Sapiens and the other hominids lived
side by side in Africa as elsewhere. By ten thousand years ago, however, all the
hominidshaddisappeared. Scholarsbelievethatthiswastheresultofthegradual
absorption of all the other hominids by the more biologically advanced Homo
Sapiens. This process may explain the appearance of variations within Homo
Sapiens. At various times and places, as Homo Sapiens absorbed other hominid
strains, differences within Homo Sapiens developed. In any case it is clear that
the various types of man came into existence very early. In Africa, this process
led to the development of three main types: the brownish-yellow Bushmen in the
south, the darker Negroes throughout most of the continent and the Caucasoid
Mediterraneantypesinthenorth.
Most of the concepts, held even by scholars about the nature and origin of
races, are being proven inaccurate. Anthropological literature used to suggest
that skin color in some groups was a possible indication of Mongoloid influences
or that the thin, straight lips common in another group could be envisioned as a
Caucasoid feature. However, it has become increasingly obvious that an analysis
based on specific single traits such as these is always a poor indication of either
racial origin or of racial contact. In fact, they could just as likely be the result of
spontaneous and local variations within a given population grouping. In contrast,
recent anthropological research is putting less emphasis on bone measurement
and shape and, instead, is turning increasingly to technical analysis particularly
throughtheexaminationofbloodtypes.
Making and using tools are what differentiate man from animals. The earliest
tools which have survived the wear of time were made of stone. As man’s tech-
niques of handling stone improved, so did his tools. The hand axe, a large oval