by William James Edwards (b. 1869) which you will find at
We will discuss this on Friday
To this point in the class we've primarily concentrated on those things which had an impact on the broad American public, though of course the degree of impact was influenced by place, class, ethnicity, gender, and race, among other factors. This week we turn our attention to examiniing aspects of the life of Black Americans in the 1890s. The black population was diverse, of course, but perhaps a near majority of those alive in 1890 had spent a significant part of their lives as slaves. Most of them had near relatives who had been slaves, if they had not been slaves themselves, and the Civil war and its aftermath, Reconstruction, were vividly alive in the imaginations of whites and blacks alike. Today our focus will be on several things. We'll look at basic economic conditions. We'll also consider persistent delusions held by whites like Henry W. Grady, claiming to "understand" "happy" black people in the New South Frederick Duglass and W. E. B. Du Bois will affirm that racisim was alive and well in all areas of the country, and Black efforts at self-help will be demonstrated in the quest for education at "colored" schools.
Jones will give us a special look at the role of black (and to some degree white) women in the rurul South, as well.
For Wednesday, April 17
Read, in Fink
10.1The U. S. Supreme Court Upholds
Segregation: Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 pp. 296-299
10.2Congressman Frank Clark Praises Segregation, 1908, pp. 299-301
10.3 Booker T. Washington Advocates Self-Help, 1895 pp. 301-303
10.4W. E. B. Du Bois rejects Washington's
Strategy of Accommodation, 1903 pp. 303- 305
10.5Mary Church Terrell Praises the Club Work of
Colored Women, 1901 pp. 305 -307
We continue the themes introduced on Monday, with some special emphasis on the legalization of discrimination through the implementation and strenghthening of black codes and Jim Crow Laws. We'll also explore the split between conservative and radical elements in the black community as they try to develop strategies to counter racism endemic in the country's power structer. Mary Church Terrell will remind us, however, that an emerging black middle class was engaging in a wide variety of self-help projects, similar in some ways to activities of their white counterparts.
For Friday, April 19
Discussion of Edwards, which you should have downloaded and read by today.
William James Edwards' career speaks volumes of the struggles of blacks in the post Civil War era. It is elequent testimony to the ambitions of blacks in the post Civil War era, and to the energies with which they pursued their goals. Edwards is an acute observer and critic of white racism as well. I think you're going to enjoy his short book.
