This is a useful guide for practice full problems of english, you can easy to learn and understand all of issues of related english full problems.The more you study, the more you like it for sure because if its values.
Trang 2by Melba J Duncan
A Pearson Education CompanyAfrican American
History
Trang 4by Melba J Duncan
A Pearson Education CompanyAfrican American
History
Trang 5Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore, Auckland 1311, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Copyright © 2003 by Melba J Duncan
All rights reserved No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of information contained herein For information, address Alpha Books, 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240.
THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO and Design are registered trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002115728
Note: This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author It is intended to provide helpful and informative
material on the subject matter covered It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged
in rendering professional services in the book If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent sional should be consulted.
profes-The author and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
Publisher: Marie Butler-Knight
Product Manager: Phil Kitchel
Managing Editor: Jennifer Chisholm
Senior Acquisitions Editor: Randy Ladenheim-Gil
Development Editor: Joan D Paterson
Production Editor: Katherin Bidwell
Copy Editor: Michael Dietsch Illustrator: Judith Burros Cartoonist: Chris Eliopoulos Indexer: Angie Bess Layout/Proofreading: Megan Douglass, Sherry Taggart Book Designer: Trina Wurst
ISBN: 1-4406-1448-2
Trang 6Part 1: Dreams and Dreams Deferred: The Early History 1
Explore a rich legacy of hope and commitment.
Learn the early history of an American institution.
Hear voices from the American holocaust.
Take a journey on the Amistad.
5 Discord and Decision: The Civil War 55
Learn the key facts about this momentous American conflict.
Learn how white supremacists consolidate political, social,
and economic power after the Civil War.
Find out the sad truth behind “American apartheid.”
Join the millions who made their way out of the South to find a better life.
Find out about the early twentieth-century challenges to
racism in America.
10 The Modern Civil Rights Movements 111
Learn about the extraordinary struggles—and victories— that followed the World War II period.
See what happened in the aftermath of the turbulent
1960s in the African American community.
12 A House United, a House Divided 137
Learn about recent developments in the community.
Meet some of America’s most important religious pioneers.
Trang 7Discover the celebrations unique to African American life.
15 Fortune: African American Entrepreneurship 169
Learn about the often-neglected history of business success.
16 Femininity: African American Women 181
Meet remarkable women who made significant contributions
to business, politics, and the arts.
Part 4: Power on the Outside: Contributions to American Culture 197
Meet five men who changed the world.
Learn about African American literary achievements.
19 In the Groove: African American Rhythm 221
Discover some of the most important musical innovators.
20 Big Screen, Small Screen: African Americans and
Explore obstacles—and triumphs—in films, radio,
and television.
21 Fighting Anyway: Heroism in a Segregated Military 241
Meet some of America’s often forgotten defenders.
22 Supporting the Entrepreneurial Spirit 255
Find out about some of the most important current
initiatives.
23 Beyond the Rainbow: Race in American Politics 263
Learn why 1968 was a fateful year in American political history and race relations.
24 Epilogue: Beyond Race in America 275
Find out who’s continuing to help create the ongoing legacy
of pride and self-determination … and how you can help.
Appendixes
A Bibliography and Recommended Reading 281
Trang 8Part 1: Dreams and Dreams Deferred: The Early History 1
A Pattern of Intimidation .4
Sending a Message .4
“Know Your Place” .7
Three Days of Murder … with a Message .8
The “Proper Sphere” .9
The Ongoing Struggle for Self-Definition .10
Abuse of the Criminal Justice System 10
Abuse of the Civil Justice System .12
White Racism (Spoken and Unspoken) 12
The Great National Drama .14
The American Dream 14
Hey, You! .15
2 Slavery: What Happened When 17 Slavery: A Global Timeline .18
Slavery, American Style .20
Indentured Servants—Not .20
Snapshot: Life and Death on a Slave Ship .21
The Declaration of Independence (of White Males) .22
The Northwest Ordinance 22
The Constitution and Its Loopholes .23
Excluded from “We the People” .23
End of the American Slave Ship but Not of Slavery 24
The Missouri Compromise .24
Rebellion in the South, Opposition in the North 24
The Divisions Deepen .25
Yet Another Uneasy Compromise .26
A Precursor Battle .26
Don’t Stop Here! .27
3 Slavery: The Human Toll 29 An Incalculable Human Loss .29
The Underground Railroad .30
America’s Long-Running Holocaust .31
“Bought and Sold in the Market Like an Ox” .32
Trang 9An English Specialty 33
Auctions North and South .34
The Plantation Economy .35
Good Master, Bad Master .36
Sold Down the River .37
On the Run .37
In the Name of Christianity 39
Exodus and the Psalms .40
4 Portrait of a Rebellion 43 Black Mutiny 43
Why the Amistad Still Matters .44
A Strange Northward Journey .45
Piracy and Murder—or Self-Defense? .46
The Biggest Story of the Day 47
A Challenge to the American Legal System .47
A White Man’s Nation? .48
Enter John Quincy Adams .48
Set Free .50
The Other Side of the Amistad Decision 51
Prelude to a Bloodbath 51
Part 2: A House Divided: The Later History 53 5 Discord and Decision: The Civil War 55 Fredrick Douglass Calls It as He Sees It .56
A Raid in Virginia .57
The Emancipation Proclamation 60
The Road to the Proclamation .60
Immediate Effects .61
Long-Term Effects 61
A Limited Emancipation .62
African American Troops on the March .62
The Fifty-Fourth .62
Other Important Battles Involving African American Troops .63
Individual Accomplishments 64
Racism Endures .65
6 Emancipation (Not) 67 Overt Legal and Political Measures 68
No Land .68
Trang 10Watering Down the Fourteenth Amendment .68
No Civil Rights Law .68
Plessy v Ferguson 69
Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, and “White Primaries” .70
From Slavery to Serfdom .71
Behind-the-Scene Manipulation of the Political System .71
Hayes Caves In to the South .72
Totalitarianism in the South .73
Terrorism 73
The Klan .73
American Terrorism in the Aftermath of the Civil War .74
7 The Jim Crow Laws 77 America’s Apartheid .78
What Jim Crow Was Designed to Do .79
The Constitution Gets an Overhaul: America Decides to Ignore It .79
Jim Crow’s Forebears .80
The Rise of Jim Crow .80
Customs and Traditions—of Terror 82
Jim Crow Cars .82
The Supreme Court Signs Off on Jim Crow .82
Reading Between the Lines .83
Laws Are Laws, People Are People .85
8 The Great Migration 87 On the Move 87
Causes 88
The African American Press Sounds Off .90
In Search of a New Life .90
Effects of the Great Migration 92
Demographic Shifts 92
Changes and Challenges .92
Dawn of the Urban Challenge 93
A Cultural Movement 94
The Hard Reality of Life in the Cities .95
9 A Challenge to a Nation 97 The Great Debate: Social Equality .98
Organized Legal Action and Protest .99
Before Brown v Board of Education .100
Trang 11Other Voices, Other Challenges .103
Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” Movement .103
Pickets During the Depression .105
The National Negro Congress .105
The (Other) Bus Boycott .106
CORE Is Born .106
Two Calls for Change 106
A Call for Change on the Diamond .106
A Call for Change in the American Mind .107
10 The Modern Civil Rights Movement 111 The Federal Government .112
Time for a Change .112
Activism for Equal Opportunity .113
The Nonviolent Ideal 114
Brown v Board of Education .115
Rosa Parks Takes a Ride .116
The Little Rock Nine 117
The Sit-Ins Begin .117
The Freedom Rides .118
James Meredith and Ole Miss .119
Medgar Evers Murdered .119
“I Have a Dream” .120
The Sixteenth-Street Bombing .120
Freedom Summer, 1964 .120
The Other Side of the Coin 120
Bloody Sunday .121
King Assassinated .122
Remembering Those Who Paid the Ultimate Price .123
11 After Dr King 125 End of Segregation in Public Schools .126
The Fallout from Brown and Alexander 127
1974: Boston’s School System Flunks .128
Schools Under Siege .128
Making Diversity in the Classroom a Reality 129
Emerging Leaders .129
Jesse Jackson .129
Louis Farrakhan .130
Harold Washington .130
Colin Powell .131
Clarence Thomas 131
Trang 12The African American Middle Class .132
On the Tube: (Black) Father Knows Best .132
A Looming Question .132
The Rodney King Riots .133
12 A House United, a House Divided 137 The Million Man March .138
Big Media Misses the Point .138
The Clinton Pardon That Didn’t Lead the Nightly News 138
California Civil Rights Initiative Undoes Affirmative Action 139
Julian Bond Speaks Out .139
Fiasco in Florida .140
The Reparations Movement .142
A Wave of Scam Artists .142
At Century’s End .143
Part 3: Power on the Inside: Spirit and Soul 147 13 Faith 149 Early African American Religious Experience .149
The Drive for Self-Determination and Religious Expression 150
A Side Note .150
Richard Allen .151
Peter Williams Sr .152
Hiram Revels .152
William J Seymour .153
Thomas A Dorsey .154
Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman .155
Other African American Faith Traditions .156
Nation of Islam .156
Rastafarianism 156
Santeria 157
14 Festivities 159 Kwanzaa 159
The Father of Kwanzaa .161
Martin Luther King Day .162
Resistance 163
Community Service 164
Black History Month .165
The Father of Black History .166
Trang 1315 Fortune: African American Entrepreneurship 169
Building Prosperity, Building the Community .169
African American Business in Early America .171
African American Entrepreneurialism at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century .173
Madam C J Walker 173
Move Over, Thomas Edison .175
Beard’s Breakthroughs 175
The Real McCoy .175
A Scientist Steps Up for Southern Agriculture .175
Beyond the Color Line 177
The Modern Era 177
16 Femininity: African American Women 181 Barbara Jordan .182
Potent Quotes .182
To Learn More About Barbara Jordan … .183
Oprah Winfrey .183
Potent Quotes .183
To Learn More About Oprah Winfrey … .184
Rita Dove .184
Potent Quote .184
To Learn More About Rita Dove … .185
Angela Davis .185
Potent Quotes .185
To Learn More About Angela Davis … 185
Shirley Chisholm .186
Potent Quotes .187
To Learn More About Shirley Chisholm … .187
Fannie Lou Hamer .187
Potent Quotes .188
To Learn More About Fannie Lou Hamer … .188
Rosa Parks 188
Potent Quote .189
To Learn More About Rosa Parks … 189
Dorothy Dandridge .189
Potent Quote .190
To Learn More About Dorothy Dandridge … .190
Trang 14Ella Fitzgerald 190
Potent Quote .191
To Learn More About Ella Fitzgerald … .191
Mary McLeod Bethune .191
Potent Quotes .192
To Learn More About Mary McLeod Bethune … .192
Ida Wells-Barnett .192
Potent Quote .192
To Learn More About Ida Wells-Barnett … .193
Madam C J Walker 193
Potent Quote .193
To Learn More About Madam C J Walker … 193
Harriet Tubman .193
Potent Quotes .194
To Learn More About Harriet Tubman … .194
Sojourner Truth .194
Potent Quote .195
To Learn More About Sojourner Truth … 195
Part 4: Power on the Outside: Contributions to American Culture 197 17 Five Giants 199 Dr Martin Luther King Jr 200
The Significance of Selma .200
King Alienates the Political Left .201
We Shall Overcome 202
Malcolm X .202
A New Vision .204
What’s In a Name? 204
Asa Philip Randolph .205
The March on Washington .205
Roy Wilkins .206
Ralph Bunche .207
Walking the Path .208
And Let’s Not Forget … .209
18 African American Writing 211 Beginnings 211
Slave Narratives .212
Regionalist Stories .214
Trang 15Novels 214
Nonfiction 215
Poetry 216
Theatre 218
August Wilson: The Theatrical Champ .218
Walking a Long Road 220
19 In the Groove: African American Rhythm 221 The Anonymous Tradition 222
James Carter, Where Art Thou? .223
Robert Johnson 223
Louis Armstrong 225
“Duke” Ellington .225
Ella Fitzgerald 226
Miles Davis .227
Chuck Berry .228
Jimi Hendrix .228
The List Goes On .229
20 Big Screen, Small Screen: African Americans and Modern Media 231 African American Film Pioneers .232
Hollywood’s First “Oscar” Challenges and Stereotypes .232
Spencer Williams .234
Other Early African American Film Pioneers .234
A New Era .235
Amos ‘n’ Andy Revisited 235
A National Disgrace: The Failure of The Nat “King” Cole Show .236
Invisible Men and Women… Become Visible 238
21 Fighting Anyway: Heroism in a Segregated Military 241 The Revolutionary War .242
(Slaveholding) Founding Fathers 243
Washington Rebuffs the Slaves 244
The War of 1812 .245
Formal Segregation in the Armed Forces .246
The Civil War 246
In the North .247
In the South .247
The Buffalo Soldiers 248
Trang 16The Spanish-American War 248
World War I .249
World War II .249
The Tuskegee Airmen .250
FDR Cuts a Deal .250
A White Missourian Desegregates the Armed Forces .250
Fighting Anyway 251
Part 5: The Road from Here 253 22 Supporting the Entrepreneurial Spirit 255 Economic Progress, Economic Obstacles .255
Philadelphia United CDC .257
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .257
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship 258
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .258
National Black Business Trade Association .258
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .259
National Black Chamber of Commerce .259
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .259
African-American Women Business Owners Association .260
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .260
Minority Business Development Agency 260
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .260
Sablenet 261
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .261
The Black Greek Network 261
Why It’s Worth Celebrating .262
Supporting the Community .262
23 Beyond the Rainbow: Race in American Politics 263 Racist Democracy and Its Long-Term Legacy .264
Covert Racism 265
The Same Election, Again and Again .266
The 1968 Pattern .267
Widening the Rift 267
What If? .268
The Nixon Legacy .269
Trang 17The First Challenge: The Family Unit .270
The Second Challenge: The Emergence of an Underclass .271
The Third Challenge: Unequal Earning Capacity .271
Beyond Politics .272
24 Building a Future 275 Build Your Own Ending 275
Challenges and Opportunities .276
Social Action: Protecting Civil Rights … from Cyberspace 277
Where We Stand .277
The Big Idea .277
The Initiative .277
Social Action: Supporting Tolerance and Cultural Understanding at Home—and Around the World .278
Where We Stand .278
The Big Idea .278
The Initiative .278
Economic Action .279
A Final Thought .280 Appendixes
Trang 18Melba Duncan’s extraordinary book is a trip through the dungeons of American history—but it is also a journey that concludes in the sunlight of opportunity found
by all those who are willing to stand up and claim their dreams This must-read ume offers a compelling overview of nearly four centuries of African American chal-lenge, spirit, and contribution It should be mandatory reading for the student, thegeneral reader interested in the rich legacy of the African American, and the historybuff alike
vol-There are many books that have successfully documented the African American’s
experience John Hope Franklin’s book From Slavery to Freedom is the most
compre-hensive documentation of the African American’s experience ever written; Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar’s Black Profiles in Courage informs us that many people of color through
the centuries were noted for their explorations, achievements, and leadership—although standard works of history routinely ignored them Now there is the remark-able book you hold in your hands, a worthy addition to the existing literature, andone of the most accessible books on the subject yet written
This book offers an amazing and inspiring testimony to the spirit of a people who for
400 years lived in daily fear of intimidation, terrorism, humiliation, and death; a ple who nevertheless found the strength to become great inventors, business men andwomen, scientists, military heroes, and artists; a people who transcended boundariesand limitations to define themselves and their nation Melba’s compulsively readablehistory once and for all eradicates the notion that this great people ever developed atolerance for subjugation They were—and are—always rising
peo-Enjoy the book!
—Horace Williams
Vice President of Government and Community Relations, the Pratt Institute Co-founder (with Chase Bank, the Pratt Institute, and the United Way of GreaterNew York) of the Youth Service Coalition of New York
Project Coordinator, Myrtle Avenue Revitalization and Development Corporation(Brooklyn, New York)
Trang 20The Complete Idiot’s Guide to African American History is an introduction to the
extraor-dinary legacy of African American contribution in the United States While I havenot shied away from accounts of struggle and crisis, I have emphasized throughoutthis book the significant contributions and positive influences of African Americans toAmerican society
This society is freer, less violent, and more prosperous than it was during the yearswhen slavery first took root here, and the contributions of African Americans in busi-ness, politics, science, and civil rights activism over four centuries must receive somecredit for that fact This nation is more democratic, more accepting of diversity, moresupportive of equal opportunity, and more inclined to respect the rights of all its citi-zens today than it was in 1960, or 1920, or 1880, and that is in large measure because
of the efforts of African Americans This nation is less prone to internal strife andpolitical chaos than it was in 1860, and that is due, to a larger extent than many real-ize, to the loyalty, service in arms, and commitment to the very idea of a UnitedStates of America shown by African Americans
In a book such as this, it is essential to look at the hardships we have endured at thesocial, economic, and political levels It is also essential, however, to look also at themany remarkable ways in which we have overcomethese hardships I believe we can-not permit real grievances to overshadow our own extraordinary contributions in thepast, the opportunities we find in the present, and the vision to which we hold firmly
as we build the future
The legacy of racial preference is, of course, still very much alive Gaps remain ineducation, in socioeconomic stability, and in access to capital “Logical” attempts todispel preconceptions, stereotypes, or outright racial hatred have not had a great trackrecord What has worked well in the past, however, and is sure to continue workingwell into the future, is the creation of platforms of opportunity in the areas of entre-preneurship, education, and economic opportunity Once economic parity is attained,racial hierarchies will diminish The responsibility to make inroads in these areas,however, lies squarely on the shoulders of the African American
History teaches that governmental structures will reflect the interests and values ofdominant social groups How, then, we ask, will change occur? What has been accept-able in the past—asking for individual freedom and agitating for tangible changes inlaws or customs—must give way to new and different forms of expression
The initiative for change must come from within our own community Our actions
should conform to our self-interest Our agenda should be to inspire, and, where
Trang 21necessary, to raise unpopular issues and make unpopular choices Attaining AfricanAmerican control of the economic, educational, public safety, criminal justice, andpolitical institutions in African American communities is one such set of issues.Ultimately, only we are responsible for the content and quality of the lives of our fami-lies and our communities And ultimately, only we are responsible for adherence to the only motive that supports large-scale change—positive or negative—in Americansociety: the profit motive Racial prejudice is not simply an emotional response; it isalso an economically based response.
Self-interest must become the primary motive for creating competitive businesses andcivic infrastructure in the African American community Self-interest will bring to lifethe internal resources, the technology, the dormant connections to institutions ofpower Self-interest, properly channeled, will convert private success into economic andpolitical opportunity Self-interest will help us to broaden our goals so that they extend
beyond fighting de facto segregation (as necessary as that is) to building and reinforcing
a legacy of profitable business development in our communities Self-interest will help
us to build businesses that respond to the needs of a diverse population
Learning how to “live within the system” does not mean accepting the idea of mise; it does not mean losing our values or our culture It does mean that the AfricanAmerican community needs those of us who are entrepreneurs and executives to takeinitiative in assuming advisory and leadership roles We must help to create competitivebusinesses that cater to diverse audiences and support civic infrastructure; we must help
compro-to translate private success incompro-to large-scale political power and economic opportunity
We must help communities focus on building social, economic, and political standardsthat will endure: education for every child, the closing of income gaps, the embrace ofentrepreneurship and competition, and stability and well-being in our neighborhoods
We must also continue to build bridges that permit entry into all communities I amnot suggesting that we lose our core identity I am suggesting that we embrace the ideal
of communicating in ways that open the largest possible number of doors
This book is a starting point for those who are interested in learning about the able contribution African American people have made to our country As always,African Americans will play a leading role in the effort of summoning our nation to itsenduring greatness
remark-About This Book
This book is divided into five sections that will help you learn more about the able African American story
Trang 22remark-Part 1, “Dreams and Dreams Deferred: The Early History,” gives you answers to
questions about the first part of the African American story
Part 2, “A House Divided: The Later History,” gives you information about the
story from the Civil War to the present day
Part 3, “Power on the Inside: Spirit and Soul,” shows you some of the institutions
and traditions the African American community has used to support itself and sustainits vision
Part 4, “Power on the Outside: Contributions to American Culture,” celebrates
examples of great cultural contributions, not to a narrowly defined racial group, but
to the American experience as a whole
Part 5, “The Road from Here,” gives you an in-depth look at some of the
obsta-cles, the opportunities, and the good work being done in today’s African Americancommunity
Extras
You’ll probably want to take advantage of the little nuggets of information that show
up throughout the text of this book These will help you gain a deeper understanding
of some element of the African American story Here’s what they’ll look like:
This is where you’ll findconcise summaries of key termsthat may not be familiar to you
What’s the Word?
Here, you’ll get answers to
some of the most important
ques-tions about African American
his-tory and culture
FAQ
These boxes offer minating examples of both chal-lenges and opportunities
illu-Obstacles and Opportunities
This is where you’ll findbackground facts or supporting
information about some part of
the African American community’s
drive for autonomy and
self-determination
On the March
Trang 23I thank Randy Ladenheim-Gil, Joan Paterson, and the entire team at Alpha Gratefulthanks also go out to Max Rodriguez, Brandon Toropov, Judith Burros for her origi-nal artwork, Gene Brissie, Glenn KnicKrehm, and all those who have been staunchsupporters of the Duncan Group over the years: our clients, our candidates, and espe-cially our colleagues: Ron Ries, David Harmon, Noreen Denihan, Diane Rush, EdenPlaye; my dear friends Madeleine Moore, Adam Moore, Madelyn Bednar, PaulSimmons, and Ron Simmons; my sisters Joan Duncan and Clevette Duncan; and mydaughter Michelle K Devlin, who remains my inspiration Without their help, sup-port, and encouragement, this book would not have been possible My thanks go out,too, to the many, many wonderful people with whom I have worked over the years,and I offer my apologies that space limitations prevent me from listing them all here
Special Thanks to the Technical Reviewer
Thanks go to Max Rodriguez, founder and publisher of the Quarterly Black Review,
who served as technical reviewer on this project
Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of beingtrademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized Alpha Books andPenguin Group (USA) Inc cannot attest to the accuracy of this information Use of aterm in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark orservice mark
Trang 24The institution of slavery casts a long, ominous shadow over the landscape
of American history Its repercussions are still felt As many observers havenoted, communities of African descent in this country have known twoand a half centuries of brutal, state-endorsed captivity; another century oflegalized oppression and vigilante abuse; and only half a century of any-thing else
To decide where we’re going, it sometimes helps to know where we’vecome from In this part of the book, you learn about the beginnings of theAfrican American story—a story of the kind of self-determination andcommitment that turns obstacles into opportunities
Deferred: The Early History
Trang 26Portrait of a People
In This Chapter
◆ Race and self-definition
◆ The “proper sphere” message
◆ The portrait: Walking the path of one’s own choice
In July 1863, New York City exploded
Bloody riots raged through the city for three long days that month; theimmediate cause of the violence was the presence of a newly opened
Union recruiting station The station reminded white working-class dents of the city of federal recruiting efforts in support of the Northerncause in the Civil War; it also reinforced the reality of obligations underthe recently passed Conscription Act of 1863, a law that had summoneddeep resentment in New York and elsewhere
resi-Because of all this, historians would later describe the wave of destructionthat engulfed New York as the Draft Riots That curt label, however,
hardly describes what took place in the North’s leading city The anarchy
in New York remains, to this day, the deadliest civil disturbance in the tory of the United States Nowadays, many Americans are either unaware
his-of what took place in New York City in 1863, or have an incomplete
understanding of what really fueled the violence
Chapter
Trang 27A Pattern of Intimidation
To understand what actually happened in New York, it’s certainly important to know
about the provisions of the Conscription Act of 1863 that so infuriated poor whites It’s
also essential, though, to understand how whites have worked consciously, sciously, or in the borderland of reason known as rage to find ways to control, manip-ulate, and intimidate African Americans This process dates from the early 1600s,when the institution of slavery took root in North America, and continues up to thepresent day
uncon-The huge, distinctly African American community that came to thrive despite thislong-running effort at social manipulation was unlike any other in the country It was
a community that would suffer greatly, triumphgreatly, and define itself by delivering a continuouschallenge for America to live up to its own principles
It was a community that, as Martin Luther King Jr.would argue nearly a century later in launching a busboycott in Montgomery, would force future genera-tions to stop, think, and conclude that a great peoplehad brought fresh meaning to human civilization.That community, the African American community,
is the subject of this book, which offers an American
history of Africans in America
fea-What were the major American race riots? There have been plenty to choose from,but here are the most frequently noted civil disturbances with racial dimensions
More Than a Century of Racial Strife
The Conscription Act of
1863 authorized the drafting of
soldiers into Union military forces
during the Civil War The Act
provided loopholes for wealthy
men, who could avoid service by
paying a fee or hiring others to
serve
What’s the Word?
Trang 28New Orleans, Louisiana 1900
Trang 29More Than a Century of Racial Strife (continued)
Over 100 American cities (following the
Los Angeles, California and other U.S cities
(following the acquittal of officers videotaped
Of all of these, the New York riots of 1863 had the highest death toll—at least 400and perhaps considerably more It is worth noting that the list above does not includeslave uprisings (some scholars estimate that there were roughly 250 of these beforethe end of the Civil War) or massacres of African Americans that were not accompa-nied by periods of civil disturbance
In the race riots of 1863, as in those prior, the violence was heavily white-on-black Itmight be more accurate to think of what happened in New York as civil unrest whosemost prominent form of expression was a mass execution of African Americans bywhites (A side note: African American rage fueled U.S race riots only from about
1960 onward; prior to that, these urban disturbances were driven by whites.)
Trang 30“Know Your Place”
The 1863 riots took place in a Northern city still rejoicing over the recent Union victory at Gettysburg, which proved to be the turning point in the Civil War Theviolence was not, in other words, a product of racism that could be blamed on the
“Southern way of life.” This hate-filled bloodshed was, rather, part of an ongoing,one-way pattern of “communication” from whites in all parts of the country toAfrican Americans as a whole The message was simple: Know your place, and do not attempt to advance beyond it
Although the medium for conveying the message would change, it would continue to
be sent over the next century and a half … a period when African American presence
in urban areas would dramatically increase and the inner city and the urban class would become significant parts of American life
under-African American 3%
White 97%
Ethnic composition of 10 largest U.S cities, 1900 (based on U.S government statistics).
Other 1%
African American 19%
Ethnic composition of 10 largest U.S cities, 1950 (based on U.S government statistics).
Trang 31poten-Obstacles and Opportunities
Three Days of Murder … with a Message
After laying waste to the main recruiting post, mobs of furious rioters made their way
to the homes of some of the wealthiest citizens in town and embarked on a campaign
of terror and destruction Actual war profiteers were comparatively hard to trackdown, though, so the mob turned its attention to the Civil War’s more easily identifi-able group: African Americans
The riots quickly turned into a campaign of white murder and intimidation of AfricanAmerican civilians Its purpose was now impossible to miss: to make absolutely surethat African Americans were so terrified that they would accept, without complaint,
Trang 32the role of lowest-ranking social group in New York City To accomplish this tive, huge white mobs marched through the streets of the city, sabotaging factoriesand encouraging the workers within to join the growing ranks of the white crusade.The throngs took over street after street of America’s great city and roamed with anominous unity in search of faces of color.
objec-They beat, shot, hanged, set ablaze, or drowned as many African Americans as theycould find
They turned an orphanage for African American children into an inferno
They beat to death aged men of color who, on their own, couldn’t possibly haveposed any threat, economic or otherwise, to the aims of white working men
They slaughtered, when they could find
them, African American children, little ones
who certainly understood nothing of the
great issues of the day—such as who would or
wouldn’t be paid for cleaning out public toilets
They danced before the mutilated bodies of
those they had cut down, and swore that they
would never die to free “niggers.”
The “Proper Sphere”
A critical goal of the mobs in New York was to see to it that African Americans
“stayed in their place.”
Many people, out of fear, hatred, ignorance, or a combination of the three, stillassume, often without realizing exactly what they are doing, that there is such a thing
as a “proper sphere” for African Americans—a realm of living defined for, and not by,
African Americans Without this continuously reinforced mental foundation, therewould have been no plantation system, no racially motivated assaults (in New York
or elsewhere), no segregation, and no need for a civil rights movement There wouldtoday be no gap between white median family income and African American medianfamily income, no racial unrest in the cities, and no shortage of top-level executives
in the nation’s largest companies
But this is America And the “proper sphere” mindset is, as it has been since longbefore the country’s founding, an enduring and ominous part of our cultural land-scape
The so-called NewYork City Draft Riots raged fordays until Union troops arrived
on the scene to restore order The soldiers were returning fromthe recent Union victory atGettysburg
On the March
Trang 33The so-called Draft Riots took place in the mid-nineteenth century This is the earlytwenty-first century It has been some time (though not as long as some might imag-ine) since sane whites gathered in mobs to glorify the execution of innocent African
Americans, or used the word “nigger” in public as averbal weapon, or casually slaughtered children tomake a social point And yet the essentials of themental process that made the carnage in New Yorkpossible remain, in many corners, unchanged Thismental process is, in fact, an enduring, and persist-ently ignored, feature of American history This isthe process of thinking that attempts to define a
“place” in which African Americans are to “stay”—and is, in fact, a cornerstone of a mythical “white”racial construct
It is in the transcendence of these preconceptionsthat the African American community has composed
an inspiring and constantly shifting image of itself:
A portrait of a people capable of anything, a peoplewhose “proper sphere” is self-defined, the largestand highest sphere possible for each individual
The Ongoing Struggle for Self-Definition
More consistently and for a longer period of time than any other ethnic group ofAmericans, African Americans have had to endure the dehumanization of having others (usually whites) attempt to define their status, social roles, capacities, and aspi-rations The story of this country is filled with formal and informal efforts to ensurethat this imaginary “place” is identified and that African Americans stay in it.The century just passed is full of examples of such “proper sphere” thinking thatplayed out in countless settings, and (predictably) to the disadvantage of AfricanAmericans Physical violence has, as later chapters of this book will show, been used
to reinforce this “proper sphere” principle over and over again Here are just a fewinstances of the other ways African Americans have been sent the message to “stay
in their place.”
Abuse of the Criminal Justice System
In a shameful legal odyssey beginning in 1931, nine young African American menwho came to be known as the Scottsboro Boys were convicted of raping two white
The term “Negro,”
common for centuries in the
United States, declined in use
beginning in the early 1960s
One reason for the change was
an influential resolution passed in
1959 by the African Nationalist
Pioneer Movement in New York
City; the resolution rejected the
word as an example of “African
people (having) been divided
and enslaved by Europeans.”
Today, the terms “African
Ameri-can” or simply “AfriAmeri-can” have
gained wide acceptance
On the March
Trang 34women on a train The evidence was inadequate … but the desire of all-white ern juries to “send a message” to African Americans throughout the South was sub-stantial.
south-The nine defendants were convicted; all were sentenced to die or to serve heavy tences in prison Legal problems with the case led the United States Supreme Court
sen-to reverse the convictions—not once, but twice At a second trial, one of the allegedrape victims recanted her charges
Five of the accused went free in 1937, but the
Alabama state government simply refused to
admit that there had been a miscarriage of
jus-tice for the remaining men The case became a
symbol of southern—or was it American?—
judicial arrogance
Three of the Scottsboro defendants were released in the 1940s; in 1948, one escapedfrom prison to safety in Michigan (The State of Michigan refused to extradite theescapee to Alabama.)
As the Scottsboro case suggests, African Americans have been historically victimized
by the American criminal justice system, and their unequal treatment at the hands ofwhite police officers and juries has been a long-running source of passionate anger.African American males, in particular, have been subjected to so much institutional-ized harassment and abuse from law enforcement officials over the years that a grimvariation of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) has emerged in the African Americancommunity: “Police love to make arrests for DWB: Driving While Black.”
In a much-quoted 1966 study, Harry Kalven and Hans Zeisel examined the effect ofracist attitudes on judicial performance and jury verdicts They interviewed a largenumber of white jurors and found striking evidence that factors well beyond thedefendant’s guilt or innocence influenced jury decisions One white juror shared hisopinion in particularly blunt terms: “Niggers have to be taught to behave I feel that
if he hadn’t done (what he was accused of), he’d probably done something else bly even worse and that he should be put out of the way for a good long while.”Anyone tempted to conclude that this approach to deciding cases is a habit of the dis-tant past should consider the police-protective approach the Simi Valley, California,jury took in delivering the first Rodney King verdict An all-white panel of jurorsacquitted a group of white officers who had been videotaped delivering a brutal beat-ing to King, an African American motorist The verdict led to riots that claimed thelives of 58 people
proba-In 1976, the lastknown “Scottsboro Boy” received
a formal pardon from the state ofAlabama
On the March
Trang 35In his superb book Black Robes, White Justice (New York: Lyle Stuart, 1987), New York
Supreme Court Justice Bruce Wright reports that, in New York in 1989, a white tor convicted of raping an African American former patient was sentenced to proba-tion In the same year, in a different part of New York, an African American doctorwho had been found guilty of raping white women was sentenced to serve six consec-utive life sentences
doc-Abuse of the Civil Justice System
Today, it is easy to celebrate the victories of the civil rights movement in areas likevoting rights, access to public accommodations, and desegregation in publicly fundedschool systems It’s important to remember, however, that these “advances” were sim-ply demands for fundamental rights What made the victories remarkable was thatthey were achieved within a civil justice system that had for nearly two centuries beenstarkly and unashamedly racist—a system openly dedicated, in countless ways, tokeeping African Americans “in their place.”
For most of the twentieth century, for instance, American courts upheld raciallyrestrictive real estate covenants—ensuring that white neighborhoods would remainwhite, and that African Americans would remain relegated to substandard tenementneighborhoods or other enclaves This legal sanction of countless free-form discrimi-natory selling practices made it easy to perpetuate a system that denied AfricanAmericans and other minorities equal rights in housing
Such covenants are without legal force today Many observers, however, see ing parallels between the goals of the mostly improvised system that denied AfricanAmericans equal access to housing in, say, Florida—and the goals of the equallyuntidy system that denied African Americans equal access to the ballot in the 2000presidential election in the same state Each system, critics argue, featured racist con-trol of a process that only appeared bias-free; each served to send the same ominousmessage: “We control this particular game; know your place in it, and do not attempt
disturb-to advance beyond it.”
White Racism (Spoken and Unspoken)
Today, most white professionals, politicians, and civic leaders know it is unacceptable
to express racial prejudice openly But whether the words are spoken or not, the
“proper sphere” mindset remains (In the hiring arena, the internal message may go
as follows: “We already have a black [fill in the blank].”)
Trang 36For every legal and social advance made by African Americans, there has been someform of white backlash Sometimes the reaction has been loud, sometimes it has beenquiet, and sometimes it has not been spoken at all, or communicated only in codewords But it has always been there, and its underlying message has always been thesame: “They have advanced far enough; it is time to draw the line now.” That AfricanAmericans have no say in defining what is “far enough” is predictable.
White backlash to African American achievement is sometimes expressed in scending, paternalistic, or surrealistically self-deluded terms Consider the followingpious mouthings from 96 southern congressmen opposing the Supreme Court’s land-
conde-mark 1954 school desegregation, Brown v Board of Education:
This unwarranted exercise of power by the court, contrary to the Constitution,
is creating chaos and confusion in the states principally affected It is destroyingthe amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been cre-ated through ninety years of patient effort by the good people of both races Ithas planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship
and understanding (From the Declaration of Ninety-Six Southern Congressmen,
March 12, 1956.)
This is white “proper sphere” rhetoric at its most polished—and its most shameless
According to the Declaration, friendship and understanding reigned in the south between African Americans and whites … until the Supreme Court decided, after
nearly a century, to see to the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment to theUnited States Constitution in the nation’s public schools
What does “proper sphere” rhetoric sound like in the modern era? Because mostwhite people have learned to curb their tongues, the words, when they are actuallyspoken, often come from crude and ignorant
people In 1987, Los Angeles Dodgers
execu-tive Al Campanis made headlines with an
on-air assertion that African Americans lacked the
“necessities” to become successful managers in
major league baseball In a similar vein,
CBS commentator Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder
lamented, the following year, that further
appointments of African Americans to coaching
positions in major sports would mean that
“there’s not going to be anything left for white
people.” Both men were fired and received
intense negative media coverage as a result of
their remarks Their words helped confirm—if
Not long after LosAngeles Dodgers executive AlCampanis was fired for racistblather suggesting that AfricanAmericans didn’t have what ittakes to manage in the bigleagues, African American man-ager Cito Gaston (apparentlyunaware that he lacked the
“necessities” for strategic thought)led the Toronto Blue Jays to twoconsecutive World Series cham-pionships
On the March
Trang 37confirmation was necessary—that white racism was indeed alive and well in theUnited States.
Campanis and Snyder, in their off-the-cuff remarks, made it clear what many whiteswere thinking The fact that most such sentiments now go unspoken does not changethe reality that, even without obvious bloodshed, and even with the passage of nearly
a century and a half, the riots in New York are still raging in the American mind
The Great National Drama
During his 1988 presidential campaign, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was the subject of
a critical magazine profile (in a publication whose name, I must admit, has long sinceescaped me) The writer of the piece built his first paragraph on the point that, forReverend Jackson, all of American history and politics simply revolved around theissue of slavery The implication was that this viewpoint implied some lack of balance
or perspective in Jackson’s candidacy for the highest office in the land
The more closely one looks at American history, though, the harder it is to escape theconclusion that it does in fact resonate outward, like circles in a pond, from the cen-tral fact of slavery There are innumerable implications to that great American primalsin Those implications are, whether we like it or not, the great national story.The chapters that follow offer, I hope, enough evidence to support this notion—and
to give a broad overview of the struggles and triumphs of the African community inAmerica This book is meant to be an introduction to the extraordinary history andculture of the African American community’s ongoing effort to define itself, ratherthan let others do the defining
This book is only an introduction Its goal is not to tell the whole story of the African
in America The whole story can probably never be told, and it certainly can’t be tained within the covers of a single book My aim is to encourage readers of all ethnicbackgrounds to become interested enough in the ongoing drama of the AfricanAmerican people to want to find out more about that drama You will find a list ofadditional resources at the end of the book that will help you do just that
con-The American Dream
There is a common expression: “The American Dream.” Today, we’ve grown perhaps
a little too accustomed to thinking of that dream as having only a financial or alistic dimension The actual American Dream has to do with having the right todecide what your own proper sphere is … without permitting anyone else to decidethat all-important matter for you
Trang 38materi-Ultimately, the real American Dream has
noth-ing to do with upward mobility or household
appliances or social status The real American
Dream is a good deal closer to the ideals set
out by (and not, of course, lived up to) by some
of the great thinkers of the Enlightenment—the
founding fathers of our nation
It is one of the tragedies of our imperfect
repub-lic that the inspiring dream of autonomy, of
political awareness, of an inherent right to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, was initially
meant to be turned into reality only for white
males It fell to Dr Martin Luther King Jr., to
demand compellingly that America recognize an
obligation to live up to its dream—to demand for
all citizens, not grudging concessions, but the
fundamental right to empowered self-definition
that is the bedrock of the ongoing American
national experiment
Hey, You!
One of my favorite stories of self-definition is set in New York City and serves as akind of counterpart to the gruesome events of the 1863 riots The event took placenearly a century later, and is as small in scale as the tale of the epic slaughter in NewYork is incomprehensibly vast But both events illuminate the same issue
In 1952, a white woman walking the streets of Manhattan concluded for some reasonthat an African American man was following her She appealed to the white officers in
a passing squad car for help in escaping this menacing figure The officers dutifullypursued the man and called out, “Hey you!”
The man, who was not stalking the woman but simply making his way to a friend’s
house, informed the officers that he had a name
Unimpressed by this fact, the officers reminded the pedestrian that he was dealingwith police officers The man smiled, removed his wallet, flashed a badge, and
informed the officers that they were dealing with a superior officer He was Billy
Rowe, New York City’s newest deputy police commissioner, and the first AfricanAmerican in the nation to hold such a post The officers withdrew sheepishly
The Enlightenment, amovement in late eighteenth-century Western thought, empha-sized rationality, progressivehumanitarianism, and the logic
of science Thinkers within themovement saw the ideal state as
a rational institution founded onnatural law, embracing humanfreedom as a birthright of human-ity Such ideals did not, however,persuade one of the greatthinkers of the Enlightenment,Thomas Jefferson, to liberate hisown large contingent of enslavedAfricans
Obstacles and Opportunities
Trang 39This book offers many, many angles meant to add up to a single portrait of anextraordinary people: a people committed to identifying their own sphere in life The first image of that multi-layered portrait should be, I think, that of Billy Rowestriding purposefully past those bewildered white officers, walking (happily, one imagines) the path of his own choice.
The Least You Need to Know
◆ The bloody 1863 riots in New York City were meant to send a message toblacks: Know your place and don’t attempt to advance beyond it
◆ Countless other American traditions and institutions have sent, and continue
to send, the same message
◆ African Americans have continually risen beyond this tired message, and continue to do so today
◆ There are many angles on the African American experience, but they combine
to form a single portrait of a people—a people committed to identifying theirown sphere in life
Trang 40Slavery: What
Happened When
In This Chapter
◆ The political role of slavery in the United States
◆ How slavery started
◆ How slavery defined the country
◆ Why slavery made America come apart at the seams
Trying to separate the story of the United States of America from the
story of the institution of slavery in the country is a difficult and probablyimpossible task In this chapter, you get a look at the most important his-torical elements of this distinctly American holocaust—a bloody, brutal,and utterly divisive tradition that defined the nation
Slavery predated the legal existence of this country It continues to exert
a powerful influence on the cultural and social life of the United Statesnearly a century and a half after its formal abolition Before the UnitedStates was, slavery was shaping the country; after slavery was gone, it
remains
Chapter