Dubois and Black Nationalism

The Title: DuBois and Black Nationalism

The Epigraph: “The colored people are coming to face the fact quite calmly that most white Americans do not like them, and are planning neither for their survival, nor their definite future” W.E.B. DuBois “A Negro Nation within the Nation”

The Premise: Black Nationalism is a pragmatic solution for the success and survival of the oppressed African Americans.

The Argument:

Black Nationalism is defined by Karenga, as the political belief and practice of African Americans as a distinct people with a distinct historical personality who politically should develop structures to define, defend, and develop the interests of Blacks as a people. Black Nationalism can be traced back to the 18th century, back to William Edward Burghardt DuBois, the most prominent black intellectual of all time. Black Nationalism is the response of African Americans to the continual racism and oppression they experience. It came about because of two reasons; the racism that they faced daily, and being exploited economically by white supremacy. Black Nationalism seeks a solution to the problems that African Americans face on a daily basis

After the Civil War, the situation of the black people was not good; it was a semi-free, semi-slave situation. An example of this is tenancy, where the Blacks have control of the work process and work schedule but ultimately had to give up the fruits of their hard work because they were not the landowners. This kept the Blacks under White dominance, and living in poverty. Another factor in the economical status of the Black people was the introduction of mass production, new methods and machinery. This caused the loss of many of the jobs being held by the Black men, “Negroes are now restricted more and more to common labor and domestic service of the lowest paid and worst kind.” The already bad situation became worse when the Depression arrived. Although everyone was affected by the Depression, the Black people were hit the hardest, as DuBois states “in the case of the Negro worker, everything has been worse… the loss has been greater and more permanent.” ( DuBois, 564)

In addition, Black people have always experienced racism. DuBois communicates this problem in the essay “A Negro Nation within the Nation,” “Negro children are systematically denied education;…Once or twice a month Negroes convicted of no crime are openly and publicly lynched, and even burned….When a man with every qualification is refused a position simply because his great-grandfather was black there is not a ripple of comment or protest”( DuBois, 563)

To survive these conditions, and defend themselves against racism, exploitation and oppression, Black people formed social relationships within their community, which centered mainly around the church. They fought back with Black unity, the belief that Blacks should come together to fight against their exploitation, oppression, and discrimination.

DuBois’s nationalism circulates around three main ideas: First, the belief that all people of African descent shared common goals, and that they should work together in their struggle for equality. Second, he emphasized a cultural nationalism; being the editor of “the crisis” magazine he encouraged the development of black literature and art, publishing the work of many of the most talented black writers and poets, encouraging his readers to see the beauty in black. Finally, he believed that Blacks should develop a separate “group economy” of producers and consumers, and cooperate as a weapon for fighting economic discrimination and black poverty.