Black Experience Notes

8/10/2019 Black Experience Notes

1/26

Black Experience in America

Lecture 1

Unity, Diversity, and American Identity

United States: a tale of different groups of people from different backgrounds from different regions of the

world, coming together and saing that the are going to tr and find some form of unified culture and ha!e

a unified cultural identit

inclusion !s exclusion " important in American histor# how did Black people struggle for inclusion in

$American$ societ %rotestant leaders were against &olumbus 'a

American(s first &atholic president " )ohn * +enned$f had to choose between m church and m

countr, would choose m countr-$ Edward Said " professor at &olumbia Uni!ersit# went to .ar!ard Uni!ersit in the 1/0s# was told b a

professor when he asked wh the don(t stud Black literature, $Black people don(t ha!e literature-$ 2or

something like that3 )ohn .enrik &larke " father of Black Studies# asked the lawer he worked for if he could borrow books so

he could learn about his people and was told, $(m sorr )ohn, our people ha!e no histor-$ black struggle for inclusion: freedom and American identit# arri!al and sla!er 214503# legal

segregation6second class status 214/5"1/073# !oting rights6legal citi8enship signed b Lndon B )ohnson

21/503# Barack 9bama 243 $;he problem of the th centur is the problem of the color line-$ "


2/26

2he was talking about the United States when he talked about a land being taken under bondage and

such3 four themes 2of race, empire, and modernit3

time: when do we start talking about a Black6African presence in the Americas>

racial identit " Black: when do we start to understand the identit of Black> wh is it such a powerful

social, cultural , and political !ariable in the modern world> wh is race so powerful>

conceptual framework: what is the framework necessar to understand the Black experience in America

sla!er in the United States wh are some stories shared, while others aren(t>

examples: @artin Luther +ing )r- and )o Ann =obinsonthere would ha!e been no @L+ without

=obinson# people o!erlook those who are inferior at the time abriel @ar?ue8 said that knowledge and consciousness that makes a person

histor is societal memor$Life is not what one li!ed, but what ones remembers-$

histor isn(t obecti!e# it is what one would call a contested terrain

&arl Sagan " famous phsicist and astronomer at &ornell Uni!ersit

&osmos, $;he 'emon .aunted

wh is race such an important marker of social, political, and economic di!ision in modern societ

Ashle @ontagu 21/73 " @an(s @ost 'angerous @th

race is one of man(s most dangerous mth merel because it has dangerous conse?uences: for 0

ears determined who had freedom race and modernit


3/26

racismpigmentationmodern sickness

differences ha!e existed throughout histor

people tried to empower themsel!es !ia race

democrac, protestant reformation, nationalism

during the 10s Europe went through a process of determining who did and didn(t below

with the rise of &hristianit created exclusion for man, such as the )ews

)ews found refuge in countries such as @orocco and Egpt

understanding racism .annah Arendtneed to in!ent explanation of rationali8ations for exploitation

in order for people to belie!e that the are good, upright, model beings doing good in societ, the

ha!e to think the are acting morall and acting out their morall good will people can(t go to

sleep at night unless the think the(re good people 'a!id .umelabeled those of colors to be inferior to whites

eorg .egel$;he egro, as alread obser!ed, exhibits the natural man in his completel natural and

untamed state-$ .e belie!ed that Africans were not human, which was a wa to make their actions

ethical how were the able to ensla!e the Africans>

because of a mistake in geograph

Europeans alread had sla!es prior to Africansmost of them came from Sla!ic nations 2eastern

Europe3 as Europe rose from the 10s onwards to re?uire cheap labor, the were cut off from their traditional

form of sla!es because of the 9ttoman Empire no one wanted to go to war against the 9ttoman Empire

the abo!e reasons F the rationali8ation of wh Africans could be sla!es G how the Africans became

sla!es

mo!ie: ;owards Sla!er6;he ;errible ;ransformation

indentured servant, in 1619 recorded history of presence of Africans, the were bapti8ed whenthe came to America in a cargo and gi!en &hristian names

African ;rade

.ow did the shift from indentured ser!itude to sla!er occur legall and politicall>

idealism in the earl settlements of the new world, which didn(t stand the test of experience

the belie!ed that the had to right to dri!e out all those unwilling to li!e like the Europeans

European colonists came to ?uickl reali8e that the couldn(t withstand the life in the $wilderness$ of the

Americas

in15/, 0 settlers li!ed in the )amestown colon

5 left ali!e in 151 as &hristians, sla!es couldn(t be sla!ed for life so the were purchased to li!e under ser!itude for a

certain amount of ears the laborers were used for the tobacco crops that were making the colon builders rich

for passage to Cirginia, the poor of England traded work for 7"H ears

b 15, 15 new settlers arri!ed in Cirginia

the first egro child was born named


4/26

in 15H5, the unrest in Cirginia exploded into ci!il war

sla!er worked especiall well when those ensla!ed were considered $different$ or $strangers$

15/1passed the law that made it illegal to free a Black sla!e unless the were lea!ing the colon

indentured ser!itudesla!er: freedom depends on sla!er, political econom depends on sla!er# the

freedom of some depends on the bondage of others

Black Experience in American

Lectures 0 and 5

&ornel


5/26

0 of the white population had sla!es

determine the political and economical !alue sstem of the United States

1HH5 " $American Blind"spot$

what doe 1HH5 mean to people of African ancestr>

without sla!es, South &arolina would be irrele!ant6unnecessar

there was a !ague promise that the democratic needs of Blacks would be addressed

didn(t get addressed because the political and economical structure of the United States preser!ed

sla!er pre"&i!il


6/26

)ohn %unch, )ames regor, and a man named !ictor were all indentured ser!ants contracted to Cirginia

planter .ugh wn- A udge sentenced all three to whippings- .e then added four ears to the indenture terms of )ames and

Cictor, both white Europeans- )ohn, a Black man, alone he condemned to lifelong ser!itude- legal measures

ensla!ed women " Ldia

she was subcontracted to another person to work

tried to run awa from the person she was subcontracted while she tried to run awa she was shot and wounded

when the case reached the Supreme &ourt, it was stated that mone was owed to the original owner

because in order for sla!er to function in societ, the owner must ha!e absolute power in order to

render the sla!e submissi!e 'red Scott case

he ran from @issourillinois@innesota

he was sold to a free state

determined in 140H that Blacks weren(t citi8ens, and therefore weren(t allowed to bring a case to the

courts

run awa

beaten no appeal " $power of the master had to be absolute, in order to render submission$

&onstitutional Arrangement:

Article one, section two 2of the original constitution: stated that sla!es were D60 human

Article one, section nine: protected the transatlantic sla!e trade

Article four: fugiti!e sla!esif sla!es escaped to countries in which the would be considered free,

their owners could get them back and re"ensla!e them passi!e !oice !s aggressi!e !oice

$Sla!es were brought to America-$ or $;he bo kicked the ball-$ !s $Sla!es were brought to America b

Europeans-$

writing about sla!er in a passi!e !oice implies that sla!er alread existed, so it was oka

anotherform of ensla!ement it obectifies sla!es and dehumani8es them e!en more

writing about sla!er in the aggressi!e !oice implies that it was ensla!ement that happened b another

group of people ;he Sla!e arrati!e:

Autobiograph as an act of self"liberation b C% *ranklin

personal and larger context

experience and ideolog

narrati!es are important because it helps us as a societ to a!oid amnesia

9ppressi!e nstitution:

9laudah E?uiano

captured with his sister b Europeans, and ne!er saw his sister again

Benin " 1H05

learns to read and writes autobiograph

one of the first real accounts of firsthand experience in the @iddle %assage


Lecture 4


7/26

Sambo ;hesis:

peorati!e6racist contextinferior b nature

Stanle Elkins: 9ppressi!e ature of Sla!er

not racist# not saing Blacks are b nature

saing that sla!er was such an abrasi!e, oppressi!e institution that it took a normal, health adult,

and reduced them to a Sambo personalit and reduced them to a state of infant state of dependenc

essentiall a person loses hope

.oward @car(s &riti?ue of the Sambo ;hesis 'oes @car agree or disagree with Elkins>

primar purpose of the article is to argue that Elkins is incorrect

argues racist origins

historicall inaccurateit implies that sla!es endured sla!er

.ebert Aptheker " 0 re!olts

descripti!e problem:

describing the sla!es as infantile is wrong:

suggests that the Sambo personalit itself could be a means of resistance

what better wa to sur!i!e another da, than to pretend to be stupid 2act like ou can(t do

something ust to get a break3 implies that sla!es wore masksbeha!ed one wa in the presence of their masters, beha!ed

another in the presence of fellow sla!es Sambo personalit is inaccurate: examples of *rederick 'oulgass and .arriet ;ubman

methodological problem

alternati!e conceptuali8ation:

drew insights from )ohn


8/26

.arriet ;ubman(s Underground =ailroad passage was 0F miles

before Emancipation she would make 1/ excursions to the South, and freed more than D sla!es

2including famil3 she met )ohn Brown and *rederick 'ouglass during these ournes

during the winter of 1404 and 140/, .arriet ;ubman met with )ohn Brown and *rederick 'ouglass

after the ferr mo!ement was o!er, she had to distance herself from )ohn Brown, because her name was

carried around as one who was a part of the raid

the *ugiti!e Sla!e Act was enforced more so and ended the usage of the Underground =ailroad sla!er di!ided the United States: the &onfederate States and the Union

.arriet ;ubman was used to lead soldiers and spies because of her work as the leader of the

Underground =ailroad the ational Association of &olored


9/26

strange con!ergence between segment white population that argued that whites and Blacks could not

li!e together as e?ual citi8ens in same demographic space and emigration abolitionists belie!ed the

should lea!e and settle elsewhere *rederick 'ouglass argued that if the were to support emigration that the would agree with white

population and gi!e in to the racist beliefs of not coexisting with each other midterm exam ?uestion: 'efine emigration- ame three reasons wh emigration wasn(t popular-

Sla!e =e!olts: describe an of the following and explain wh the rebellion failed

Stono 2South &arolina3 =ebellion 1HD/ abriel %rosser " 14

'enmark Cesse

at ;urner

)ohn Brown

Summar of the ear thus far:

interrogate the Sambo ;hesis

resistance begins in Africa

armed re!olts6struggles against sla!er

cultural resistance

abolitionist mo!ement

underground railroad

da to da resistance

emigrationism


Lecture 1

;he &i!il


10/26

$ was ne!er more ?uickl or more completel put at ease in the presence of a great man that of

Abraham Lincoln-$ *rederick 'ouglass basicall represents that historians are confused about who Lincoln reall was

because of his contradicting ?uotes contesting the legac

didn(t participate in frontier culture that defined America in 14s

against a westward expansion of sla!er

no formal education " ?uest for learning sla!er undermined countr(s historical mission

pro!es that Lincoln was against sla!er

Lerome Bennet(s *orced into lor:

he(s not the great emancipator people made him out to be

didn(t care about racial democrac in America

Lincolnnot a part of the anti"sla!er mo!ement

couldn(t ha!e been president if he was a part of the mo!ement

oppressed Black !oting rights

Lincoln pre!ented Blacks from !oting in home state 2llinois3

supporter of coloni8ation supported polic if sla!er were to end# Blacks should mo!e from United States and settle elsewhere

didn(t belie!e Blacks and whites could share democratic space as e?ual citi8ens

$Oou and we are of different races-


11/26

Lincoln himself clearl stated that the &i!il

Barbara *ields " the sla!es feed themsel!es

means that when Lincoln signed the Emancipation %roclamation, his action onl confirmed what

was going on in the plantations of the South in which regions was the &i!il 3

ains of the =econstruction %eriod

legal gains

1Dth, 17th, and 10th Amendments to the &onstitution

1Dth Amendment: officiall outlaws sla!er and in!oluntar ser!itude, except as punishment for

a crime


12/26

17th Amendment: its citi8enship clause pro!ides a broad definition of citi8enship that o!erruled

the Supreme &ourt(s ruling in 'red Scott !s Standford the 'red Scott &ase had originall held

that Black people couldn(t be citi8ens of the United States

10th Amendment: granted Black men the right to !ote b declaring that the $right of citi8ens of

the United States to !ote shall not be denied or abridged b the United States or b an state on

account of race, color or pre!ious condition of ser!itude$ the &onstitution had to be amended to include Blacks as citi8ens 2due to the 'red Scott decision

which said Blacks weren(t allowed to be citi8ens3 establishment of *reeman(s Bureau

aided distressed freedmen 2freed sla!es3 in 1450P145/, during the =econstruction era of the United

States initiated b %resident Abraham Lincoln and was intended to last for one ear after the end of the

&i!il


13/26

States( =ights: states are gi!en responsibilit and leewa to go!ern how the want toa wa to

enhance America(s democrac

in Black politics there has alwas been a skepticism of States( =ights

the state ou were in determined the rights Blacks obtained

the 1Dth " 10th Amendments were great, but indi!idual states 2primaril Southern states3

found was to den Blacks their rightsdue to States( =ights

terrorism

becomes a public spectacle in the South man Southern whites who were opposed to the idea of the 1Dth, 17th, and 10th Amendments should

mean something tangible for Blacks, increasingl resorted to !iolence to thwart the =econstruction

Effort

examples:

+u +lux +lanresorted to $B an means necessar-$

in %ine Bluff, Arkansas in 1455, a group of whites set fire to Black residents and stood to

watch7 Black men, women, and children hung off trees

;exas1, murders of Blacks b whites between 1450"1454

because a Black person wouldn(t remo!e his hat or call a white man masters#

addressed whites without first being acknowledged b whites first April 14HD, &olfax, Louisianaa mob of whites murdered 10 Blacks during an

election dispute# /4 whites were indicted in the massacre and went to trial, but onl three

men were con!icted of !iolating the ci!il rights of Blacks 2as opposed to murder3, a

ruling which was e!entuall o!erturned because the mob constituted a pri!ate arm the

ci!ilian had no authorit o!er them assertion of States( =ightlegal influence to thwart the reconstruction effort

legal measures:

14H0: United States !s &ruikshank

case ruled that indi!idual states 2ew )erse, *lorida, Alabama, etc-3 are in charge of

protecting the !oting rights of citi8ens and not the federal go!ernment!oting rights should

be protected at the le!el of the states

14H0: United States !s =eese

one can(t den a person from !oting because of race, color, or pre!ious condition of ser!itude

this case acknowledges that Black suffrage is protected under the 10th Amendment of the

&onstitution, thus the can(t be pre!ented from !oting

howe!er ou can den a person from !oting on other grounds$other grounds$ was

determined b the states criminal con!ictions: if ou ha!e criminal con!iction, ou lose our right to !ote

indifferentBlacks were fre?uentl arrested and con!icted of offenses ust so Blacks

would be prohibited from !oting poll taxes: ou had to pa nine months to !ote, and had to bring the receipt to pro!e the

paid prior literac tests: person be able to read and interpret obscure sections of &onstitutions

whites didn(t ha!e to take literac tests because of the randfather &lauseif a

white grandfather could !ote, then the right to !ote was passed down in the famil

14/5: %less !s *erguson


14/26

%less 2a Black man, who is // white3 was asked to mo!e to the Black section of the train,

sued for the 17th Amendment and the Supreme &ourt ruled that Ifind ?uote in textbook and

insert hereJ

the Supreme &ourt reected %less(s arguments based on the *ourteenth Amendment, seeing

no wa in which the Louisiana statute !iolated it

the maorit of the Supreme &ourt reected the !iew that the Louisiana law implied an

inferiorit of blacks, in !iolation of the *ourteenth Amendmentcontended that the law

separated the two races as a matter of public polic )ustice Brown declared, $


15/26

'eBow(s =e!iew: the South(s leading economic ournalresumed after &i!il

wanted to use European immigrants, but it wouldn(t work because of the sudden growth in

industrial obs

wanted to recruit the &hinese because:

$


16/26

constantl abandoning the Blacks because of their own personal corporate interests

'emocratic %art

white working class coalition

onl recentl started including Black social ustices in their agendas

Book ;


17/26

Booker ;


18/26

he had an elite educationliberal arts, as opposed to Booker ;(s knowledge based on

manual6practical skills

caused a disagreement between Booker ; and 'uBois because the had different !iews on

knowledge

narrow enlightenment perspecti!edescribes his !iews on Black empowerment and how

the were influenced what is the narrow enlightenment perspecti!e> how did it impact and influence 'uBois(

!iews in the enlightenment> ;he Enlightenment:

the scientific re!olutionwe need to understand how the world operates !ia science and

reason# replace religion with science and reason

'ubois belie!ed that the power of reason could be used to impro!e the human condition

.is earl !iews were go!erned b the abo!e perspecti!es

;he %hiladelphia egro

launches the Black field of sociolog, etc

'uBois is tring to emplo his training in this enlightenment tradition to document and

understand the sociolog of Black life in %hill 2at the time, the largest Black urban

communit in the north3

deepl troubled b the !iolence Blacks are encountering and participating in

going to the Atlanta &onstitution ewspaper to submit an article, on his wa there, he passes

a butcher shop# in the butcher shop, there were bod parts of the person who had been lnch

2people whites bought them as sport " kind of like animal heads3'uBois began to

?uestion the power of reason in the south

the south tried to preser!e the social hierarch brought about b sla!er

onl during the &i!il =ights mo!ement, that the go!ernment mobili8ed towards greater

protection from the threats of !iolencee!entuall federal protection was in!ol!ed

forced the intellectual to be engaged in the political lea!es the south and mo!es to .arlem, which leads to the creation of the AA&%

goals of the AA&%protect Blacks from !iolence and fighting against segregation

'u 'Bois does three things: mo!es to .arlem, starts writing literature for a broader

audience, becomes editor of the AA&%(s maga8ine $;he &risis$, and starts to take public

displeasure with Booker ;

costs of ?uest: inferiorithow can ou empower ourself through the politics of

submission>in this climate of !iolence, if Blacks need anthing, it(s more public

protection 2politicians, state authorities, etc that are willingl going to protect Blacks from

!iolence3

'u Bois sas that Booker ;


19/26

how can economic progress be made with this political climate of !iolate and intimidation>

'u Bois finds this contradictor and absurd

the blame for the Black predicament is because of !iolence

in this climate of white terror6!iolenceBlacks thus need more ci!il rights as opposed to

less

what is the role of higher education>

Strategic breakdown of 'u Bois:

.arlem =enaissance: intellectual and cultural &i!il =ights mo!ementsAA&%

worker6socialist mo!ements

international mo!ements

$;he Souls of Black *olk$

$ am an in!isible man R am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and li?uids " and

might e!en be said to possess a mind- am in!isible, understand, simpl because people

refuse to see meR$

significance of the titlenon"material, one(s core, sensiti!e

a transition from scientific6sociologicalesensentialism

$f re!eal m soul, ou will recogni8e it, for it is the common bond, shared b all who la

claim to membership in the human race-$ "

concerned with an e!ol!ing socialism

his exploration of the =econstruction Era and what came with it in the South

rift widened with


20/26

class strugglesbourgeois !s proletariat

connections between class and racethe poor !s the wealth 2aka the Blacks !s the

whites3 sstemic nature of racismnot simpl a matter of pscholog and attitudes and

likes6dislikes amongst different groups of people, but rather the issue of economic

arrangements in societ @arx called for an economic ustice and transformation if one was in need of a ust

societ internationalism

define @c&arthism

Black =econstruction

oins American Labor %art

indicted4D ears


21/26

14/1;uskegee celebrated its 1th anni!ersar with more than 0 students

married @argaret )ames @urra for the Drd and final time

$;he Atlanta &ompromise$famous Booker ;


22/26

;he @ster Sol!ed: ;he egro as a Beast$

;homas 'ixon(s $;he Leopard Spots$becomes the building block for the mo!ie Birth of a ation

Shaler $;he eighbor: ;he atural .istor of .uman &ontacts$


Lectures 1H, 14, and 1/

;he @odern &i!il =ights @o!ement

the idea of the land of the free and the home of the bra!e is a part of the human psche

freedom is an e!ol!ing and contests idea!er important to bear in mind that the freedoms we eno and

celebrate are a conse?uence of struggle and the freedoms we celebrate are the fruit of tears, struggles,

sacrifice, and sorrow breakdown of the &i!il =ights mo!ement

Black struggle in the United Statesbased upon the struggle of Blacks upon coming to the United

States anti"colonial mo!ements

protests mo!ements in South Africawh does 'a!id Le!e!ing Lewis argue that e!ents in South

Africa in the earl twentieth centur are integral to the philosoph and strateg of the ci!il rights

mo!ements in the United States> 2=EA' A=;&LE3 @artin Luther +ing )r was deepl influenced b the work of handi

handi spent ears of his earl life 2came to South Africa in 14/D3 in South Africahis experience

in South Africa transforms him into a ci!il rights acti!ist and a ci!il rights leader

+ing and handi comparison:

+ing(s father was deepl interested in the South African struggleparticularl the work of Albert

Luthuli, African ational &ongress Leader 2first Black man to win the obel %eace %ri8e in 1/53 Albert Luthuli staed at the +ing residence

influenced b @odecai )ohnsonfamous Black man who was a scholar and educator and president

of .owardtalked about handi and the importance of his legac

+ing(s %hilosoph

Black struggle

&hristianit and social ustice

andhian influenceboth emphasi8ing the importance of non"!iolence

non"!iolencetring to highlight what the ruling classes claimed what a societ is, based off of what

the practiced# can onl work if fighting for e?ualit or ending immortalit transformati!e integrationboth Blacks and whites could li!e in societ as e?uals

economic ustice

%redisposing *actors:

the Black migration

!oting rights

break from the =epublican part

;ruman and tensions with the 'emocratic part

the case of Emit ;ill

from 1/00"1/50the arrest of =osa %arks to the march

principles of the &i!il =ights @o!ement

constitutional patriotism:


23/26

translate the &onstitution and make it tangible and real, especiall for Blacks in the south that

couldn(t reall exercise their right to !ote, among other rights $ critici8e this countr so much because lo!e this countr so much-$ " )ames Baldwin

transformati!e integration:

do not confuse integration with assimilation 2that one is absol!ed or assimilated into a pre"existing,

or unchanging, political paradigm3

@artin Luther +ing )r- was calling for something similar to 'u Bois $&ould Blacks and white

understand one another(s humanities on the struggles on what is to be Black in America>$lookedforward to the da when people will not be udged b the color of their skin, as said in his $ .a!e a

'ream$ speech andhi(s influence:

important principles:

religion as a force of positi!e change for social ustice

religious eccumetaism: religious people need to come together for the common good

for example, @L+ formed an alliance with Abraham )oshua .eschel

religion and social ustice:

religious eccumetaism: religious people need to come together for the common good

non"!iolence &i!il =ights @o!ement 21/00"1/503:

@ontgomer Bus Bocott

mostl ran and participated in b women

*reedom =ides

August 1/5D " the @arch on


24/26

=osa %arks wasn(t the first person to be arrestedchosen because she plaed into the politics of

colorism and was the secretar of the AA&%, as well as a Oouth Ad!isor# wanted a respected

leader to be a spokesperson for the bocott@L+ was $born$

Black women organi8ed and sustained the @ontgomer Bus Bocott

potential &uestion on final'$


25/26

brings an end to the &old 3

=e!erend &; Ci!ian

)osea


26/26

Appeal to a moral communitrole of the media

otes:

most of the mone made !ia fundraisers and such was due to @artin Luther +ing )r and his

leadership @aor )oseph Smitheran was a segregationistwas !er open about not wanting Blacks to be able

to register to !ote 2referred to @L+ as @artin Luther &oon $b accident$3

turned the march around because it was ordered b the federal go!ernment, with whom he had no

trouble with

Documents

Black Experience Notes