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Blacks, Unions, & Organizing in the South,
1956-1996
A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Compiled by Rudolph Lewis
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The Racial Problem
Fourth View Given On Racial
Problem
by
Charles L. Allen
Atlanta Constitution
(January
4, 1957)
Why do some Negroes prefer segregation? In previous
columns we have looked a various reasons people give for
segregation or integration. In the last column in this series
let us consider the reasons of one other group--the Negroes who
prefer segregation.
(1) Some negroes who prefer segregation because they
believe they have a better chance if their competition in life
is limited to their own race. They think that as long as Negroes
maintain their own churches and schools, look to each other for
professional services, trade with each other, etc., they will
get along better.
Bit if integration were a fact, they fear that in
competing with the better-trained white people they would
suffer. They feel that in time this objection would be overcome
but it would be along time and would displace many Negro people
from their means of livelihood and their positions in their
communities.
(2) Some Negroes prefer segregation because they want to
maintain their own race. They fear that because they are such a
minority group in this country that, as a race, they would be
swallowed up. They believe in the sanctity of each race and fear
intermarriage with equal concern as do some white people. They
contend that many negroes 'cross the line' every year and under
integration the number would multiply rapidly until finally only
the very lowest class of Negroes would be left.
(3) Some Negroes prefer segregation because they prefer
their own society and do not want the white man coming into it.
They say they like their own churches and schools better as they
are, that they prefer Negro neighbors and that generally they
are freer and happier with their own people.
(4) Some prefer segregation
because they feel it is a lesser evil than the fighting,
ill will and hardships that come through efforts to do away with
it. Some Negro people say they prize their friendships with the
white people, live in good relations with them and wish to
continue as they are. Some do not feel the gains are as great as
the losses that integration would bring.
(5) Well--as clearly as I could, I have given some
reasons why some white people prefer segregation; why some Negro
people prefer integration' why some white people prefer
integration' why some Negroes prefer segregation. Many of the
reasons I have stated are not valid, but they are reasons people
give. As one looks at this matter from four sides, he sees there
is some merit in each side as well as wrong thinking on each
side.
This is a social problem that must be honestly faced and
worked at intelligently. On one occasion the Lord said the
Peter, "Put up thy sword" (John 18:11). I feel that is
advice we must follow here. Nothing is solved through violence
but all things can be solve through love. "Love never
faileth."
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Asa Philip
Randolph was born April 15, 1889 in Crescent
City, Florida, the second son of the Rev. James
William Randolph, a tailor and
minister in the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, and
Elizabeth Robinson Randolph, a skilled
seamstress. In 1891 the family moved to
Jacksonville, Florida, which had a thriving,
well-established African-American community.
From his
father, Randolph learned that color was less
important than a person's character and conduct.
From his mother, he learned the importance of
education and of defending oneself physically
against those who would seek to hurt one or one's
family, if necessary. Randolph remembered vividly
the night his mother sat in the front room of their
house with a loaded shotgun across her lap, while
his father tucked a pistol under his coat and went
off to prevent a mob from
lynching a man at the local county jail.
He was a
leader in the
U.S.'s Negro
civil-rights movement and the
American labor movement. He organized and led
the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first
predominantly Negro labor union. In the
early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the
March on Washington Movement, which convinced
Franklin D. Roosevelt to desegregate
production-plants for military supplies during
World War II. In 1963, Randolph was the head of
the
March on Washington, which was organized by
Bayard Rustin, at which Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his
I Have A Dream speech. Randolph inspired the
Freedom budget, sometimes called the "Randolph
Freedom budget," which aimed to deal with the
economic problems facing the Negro community,
particularly workers and unemployed Negroes. . . .
Randolph died
May 16, 1979. A statue of A. Philip Randolph was
erected in his honor in the concourse of
Union Station in Washington, D.C. In 1986 a
nine-foot bronze statue of Randolph by Tina Allen
was erected in Boston's Back Bay commuter train
station. On February 3, 1989, the United States
Postal Service issued a 25 cent postage stamp in his
honor. In 2002, scholar
Molefi Kete Asante listed A. Philip Randolph on
his list of
100 Greatest African Americans
Books on A.
Philip Randolph
Jervis
Anderson,
A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait
(1973; University of California Press, 1986).
Sarah E. Wright,
A. Philip Randolph: Integration in the Workplace
(Silver Burdett Press, 1990),
Paula Pfeffer,
A. Philip Randolph, Pioneer of the Civil Rights
Movement (1990; Louisiana State University
Press, 1996).
Andrew E.
Kersten,
A. Philip Randolph: A Life in the Vanguard
(Rowan and Littlefield, 2006).
Cynthia Taylor,
A. Philip Randolph: The Religious Journey of An
African American Labor Leader (NYU Press,
2006).
Source:
Wikipedia
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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1965
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 22 June 2008
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