|
Blacks, Unions, & Organizing in the South,
1956-1996
A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Compiled by Rudolph Lewis
* * * * *
Origin of Segregation
Segregation Desire: How Does It
Arise?
By
Charles L. Allen
Atlanta Constitution
(December
21, 1956)
During the past months almost 1,000 letters have come to
me in regard to segregation and integration of the white and
Negro races. I read these letters with the following questions
in my mind: Why do some white people insist on segregation? Why
do dome Negroes insist on integration? It is difficult even to
discuss so controversial a subject without generating more heat
than light but the question of "why" is one that
interests me.
Here I would like to put down some answers without
injecting my own personal feelings or drawing conclusions as to
what should be or should not be. This discussion will cover five
columns the remainder of this week so hold on until you have
read them all.
In regard to why some white people insist on segregation,
I find from my own correspondence and observation eight main
reasons:
(1) The economic factor. Many white people fear Negroes
will compete successfully for their jobs and take away their
means of livelihood. This fear is not limited to industrial
workers, to day laborers and to various types of physical labor,
but to some extent you see it in the various professions,
white-collar workers, politicians and others.
(2) In certain areas where the Negro population exceeds
the white race, there is a fear that the Negroes will gain
control of the local governments and elect the sheriff and other
officers. Some white people feel that should that happen, it
would be intolerable for them to continue living there, thus
they would lose their homes, farms, businesses and be ruined
financially.
(3) Some white people feel it essential to keep the
Negroes as a servant in order to have farm labor, domestic help
and to fill many menial jobs. However, with the increase in
labor-saving machinery, this reason rapidly is becoming a minor
one. Though there are many servant-type jobs to be done, many
realize these need not be limited to any particular race of
people.
(4) Some of the letters I have received from white people
indicate clearly an inferiority complex on the part of the
writer. There are many people who, frustrated in their own
lives, find satisfaction in having a race of people they can
look down upon. It gives to them a certain degree of self-esteem
and importance.
(5) Resistance to change in custom. Some have no deep
feelings on the subject except they just naturally are opposed
to change. They have grown up with the social custom of
segregation. There are many who resist any sort of social
change. They are satisfied with things as they are.
But these are not the main reasons why some insist on
maintaining segregation. Three other reasons we shall put down
tomorrow.
|
Greenback Planet: How the Dollar Conquered
the World and Threatened Civilization as We Know It
By H. W. Brands
In Greenback Planet, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands charts the dollar's astonishing rise to become the world's principal currency. Telling the story with the verve of a novelist, he recounts key episodes in U.S. monetary history, from the Civil War debate over fiat money (greenbacks) to the recent worldwide financial crisis. Brands explores the dollar's changing relations to gold and silver and to other currencies and cogently explains how America's economic might made the dollar the fundamental standard of value in world finance. He vividly describes the 1869 Black Friday attempt to corner the gold market, banker J. P. Morgan's bailout of the U.S. treasury, the creation of the Federal Reserve, and President Franklin Roosevelt's handling of the bank panic of 1933. Brands shows how lessons learned (and not learned) in the Great Depression have influenced subsequent U.S. monetary policy, and how the dollar's dominance helped transform economies in countries ranging from Germany and Japan after World War II to Russia and China today. He concludes with a sobering dissection of the 2008 world financial debacle, which exposed the power--and the enormous risks--of the dollar's worldwide reign. The Economy |
 |
* *
* * *
|
|
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 |
* * * * *
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)
* *
* * *
Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
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
* *
* * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * * *
* *
* * *
ChickenBones Store
(Books, DVDs, Music, and more)
update 29 February 2012
|
