The newspapers specialized on news that flattered the poor whites and almost utterly ignored the Negro except in crime and ridicule.”īlack Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 White schoolhouses were the best in the community, and conspicuously placed, and they cost anywhere from twice to ten times as much per capita as the colored schools. Their vote selected public officials, and while this had small effect upon the economic situation, it had great effect upon their personal treatment and the deference shown them. The police were drawn from their ranks, and the courts, dependent upon their votes, treated them with such leniency as to encourage lawlessness. They were admitted freely with all classes of white people to public functions, public parks, and the best schools. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were white. This book tells that story.“It must be remembered that the white group of laborers, while they received a low wage, were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage.
As a result, the majority of the world's laborers became part of a system of industry that destroyed democracy and led to World War I and the Great Depression. Moreover, the resulting color caste was adopted, forwarded, and approved by white labor, and resulted in the subordination of colored labor throughout the world. The plight of the white working class throughout the world is directly traceable to American slavery, on which modern commerce and industry was founded, Du Bois argues.
If he believes that the Negro in America and in general is an average and ordinary human being, who under given environment develops like other human beings, then he will read this story and judge it by the facts adduced."
Du Bois, one of the greatest intellectual leaders in United States history, evaluates the twenty years of fateful history that followed the Civil War, with special reference to the efforts and experiences of African Americans.ĭu Bois's words best indicate the broader parameters of his work: "the attitude of any person toward this book will be distinctly influenced by his theories of the Negro race. Subsequently, these former slaves attempted to reconstruct the basis of American democracy. After four centuries of bondage, the nineteenth century marked the long-awaited release of millions of black slaves.
0 kommentar(er)
