BOOKER T. WASHINGTON UNCLE TOM LEADERSHIP STYLE
Washington set the standards for accommodating an Uncle Tom style Black leadership. Meanwhile, Blacks were being lynched daily throughout America and Jim Crow prevailed. The southern conservative thinkers believed that all societies had a particular class structure of superiors and inferiors. These same conservative thinkers did not relate the inferior status of Blacks to discrimination. Regardless how, and if, discrimination resulted from the label of Black inferiority--Blacks were discriminated against as a rule of society. The evidence of class was a significant variable in various causes. Blacks realize that there are two basic classes among the whites, the "well-raised gentlemen" and "poor white trash." Both groups treated Blacks harshly and since poor white people had to inter-act with Blacks more, they in turn felt more threatened and responded even more harshly toward Blacks. Black people would become scapegoats again. Used as the scapegoat during Reconstruction, Blacks now became the scapegoat in the reunion of the solid south. White supremacy was the distinct formula used to control Black people and the first step toward implementation of the formula was disfranchisement. Ingrained in the thinking of disfranchisement was the commitment of white unity north, south, east or west in support of keeping the Black man in subordination. C. Vann Woodward in his powerful research "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" says Mississippi was the pioneer in inventing means to disenfranchise Black people. In this case Blacks were prevented from voting by the grandfather clause and the poll tax. The white primary also locked Blacks out of the political process in the south."The effectiveness of disfranchisement is suggested by a comparison of the number of registered Negro voters in Louisiana in 1896, when there were 130,334 and in 1904, when there were 1,342. Between the two dates the literacy, property, and poll-tax qualifications were adopted. In 1896 Negro registrants were a majority in twenty-six parishes--by 1900 in none." 76 As the Black man floated in this sea of degradation white intellectuals discussed his state of affairs. They concluded that the Black man and woman were sub-human and that they were incapable of self-government, did not need to vote and could only be taught basic skills. Booker T. Washington again stepped in to second the motion for the white man. In 1912 Washington said "we are trying to instill into the Negro mind that if education does not make the Negro humble, simple, and of service to the community, then it will not be encouraged." 76 Meanwhile Jim Crow laws became entrenched in southern society. Most Jim Crow laws by 1900 had only represented passengers aboard trains. These first laws applied to separation within the cars. In Montgomery in 1906 a city ordinance was passed to require a completely separate Jim Crow street car. The law eventually affected 1st class and 2nd class coaches. The growth of Jim Crow produced a multitude of signs that noted the seperation of the races ("whites only," "colored only") all over the south. Many of these signs were a result of city ordinances but many came to appeal to southern custom, which became accepted as law. Unlike Booker T. Washington,W.E.B. DuBois stood up against Jim Crow and the laws of bigotry. The "Niagara Movement was the forerunner to the NAACP and DuBois was said to have written "The Niagara Movement --Declaration of Principles" which took a firm stand against inequality. 78 After the Great Depression and Great war, Blacks were still appealing for rights as citizens. The call of the National Negro Congress in 1935 makes a significant statement about Black equality in the following excerpts. "For Negroes the six terrible years of depression have meant an intolerable double exploitation both as Negroes and as workers. The Negro farm population in the south is fast becoming landless. In the last 15 years Negroes not only have not gained land but have lost more than four million acres of farm land. What will the Negro Congress do? The National Negro Congress will be no new organization, nor does it seek to usurp the work of existing organizations. The Congress seeks unity of action among existing organizations."1. The right of Negroes to jobs at decent wages and for the right to join trade unions. 2. Relief and security for every needy Negro family. 3. Aid to the Negro farm population. 4. A fight against lynching, mob violence and police brutality. 5. The right of Negro youth to equal opportunity in education. 6. Complete equality for Negro women. 7. To oppose war and fascism--independence of Ethiopia." 79 These historical factors would come to dominate the existence of Ralph Henry Cothran. As a Black man, like so many other Black men he would learn how to deal with a racist society. Ralph was able to cope with racism and have a positive impact on humanity. His story lies ahead with its unique circumstances. Footnotes Chapter 1 Part One
1. Lerone Bennett, "Confrontation Black & White, Johnson Publishing Co. Inc., Chicago 1965.
2. Gerald Leinward, Editor, The Negro In the City, Washington Square Press, 1968, New York, p. 32.79.
3. Charles E. Silberman, Crisis In Black and White, Vintage Books a Division of5. Ibid., pp. 76-77. Random House, New York, 1964, p. 75. The primary work Silberman consults concerning the parallels between Nazi concentration inmates and Black slaves is Stanley M. Elkins, Slavery A Problem In American Institutional and Intellectual Life, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968. Also see Kenneth M. Stampp, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery In The Ante-Bellum South, Vintage Books, New York, 1956.
4 . Ibid., pp. 75-76.
5. Ibid. pp.76-77.
6. Ibid., p. 79.
7. Leinward, op. cit., p. 32.
8. Silberman, op. cit., pp. 79-80.
9. Ibid., p. 78.
10. Ibid., pp. 78-79.
11. Ibid., p. 82.
12. Ibid., pp. 85-86. 13. Ibid., p. 86.
14. Ibid., p. 86.
15. Ibid., p. 87.
16. Ibid., p. 87.
17. Ibid., p. 89.
18. Ibid., p. 90.
19. Ibid., pp. 91-92. Along with the works by Elkins and Stampp there are some other good sources that give a description of slavery. See Frederick Douglass, Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1963. The Douglass autobiography becomes most likely the most reliable book written about slavery by a former slave. Also see Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Bantam Pathfinder Editions, New York, 1900. Washington's book is important because he was born into slavery in 1859 and does recall certain circumstances that occurred before slavery ended in 1865. The clear distinction between this work and the autobiography by Douglass is that Douglass was born into slavery in 1817 or 1818. He escaped from slavery as early as 1837. But in a clear contrast to Washington, Douglass, despite slavery did not accept an inferiority complex like Washington. Since both spoke out for leadership in the Black community their delivery exposed their interests and motivations. While Douglass was independent, strong and had the character of the field Negro, Washington was dependent, meek, and had the character of a confused syncopant. Black Abolitionists by Benjamin Quarles, Oxford Univ. Press London, 1969 also gives specific information about slavery. Especially important is Quarles historical sketch of Black protest. Earl Conrad, The Invention of The Negro, Paul S., Eriksson, Inc., New York, 1966 is also an important work to review. Quarles gives a vivid account of how various circumstances caused the Black man to accept slavery and degradation and sub-consciously accept himself as a new and inferior race.
20. Lerone Bennett, op. cit., p. 25.
21. Ibid., p. 25.
22. Ibid., p. 47.
23. Ibid., p. 51.
24. Ibid., p. 52.
25. Ibid., p. 54.
26. Ibid., p. 56.
27. Ibid., p. 57.
28. Ibid., p. 57.
29. Arthur C. Littleton & Mary Burger Editors, Black View Points, New American Library, New York, 1971, p. 25. Originally a "Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe," March 8, 1853, published in From Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, DeWolfe & Fiske Co., 1892.
30. Ibid., pp. 25-26.
31. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1901, p. 154.
32. Ibid., pp. 154-155.
33. Ibid., pp. 155-156.
34. Ibid., p. 157.
35. Littleton & Burger, Editors op. cit., p. 32. Originally an article wrote by Washington that appeared in The Negro Problem, James Potts & Co., 1903.
36. Ibid., p. 32.
37. Ibid., pp. 32-33.
38. Ibid., p. 33.
39. Ibid., p. 42. Originally printed in The Douglass Monthly, V. 1863, pp. 833-36.
4. Ibid., pp. 42-43.
41. Ibid., p. 43.
42. Ibid., p. 54. Originally an article printed in "The Crisis," "The Immediate program of The American Negro," IX April 1915, pp. 310-12. Also see other writings by DuBois, The World and Africa, 1946, Souls of Black Folk, 1903, and "Black Reconstruction, 1935.
43. Ibid., pp. 55-57.
44. Ibid., p. 57-58.
45. Ibid., p. 58.
46. Ibid., p. 59. Originally an article written by DuBois printed in the Crisis XLI, January 1934, p. 20, titled "Segregation."
47. Ibid., p. 59.
48. Ibid., p. 60.
49. Ibid., pp. 62-63. Originally taken from The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Frank & co., LTD., London, 1967. There are also several other works on Garvey. Edmond David Cronon, Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Madison: The University of Wisconsin press, 1955), the most important works on Garvey are found in a scholarly review of Garvey by, Adolph Edwards, P.T.O., Marcus Garvey, 1887-1940 (London: New Beacon Publication, 1967, and Amy Jacques-Garvey, Garvey and Garveyism (Kingston: A. Jacques Garvey, 1963, a helpful account by his wife.
50. Ibid., p. 66.
51. Ibid., pp. 64-66.
52. Ibid., Amy Jacques-Garvey, editor, Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Atheneum, New York, 1970, pp. 29-30.
53. Joanne Grant, Editor, Black Protest-History Documents, and Analyses 1619 To Present, Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968, pp. 59-60. Also see Herbert Aptheker, ed., A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States, The Citadel Press, Inc., New York, 1951, pp. 19-20.
54. Ibid. p. 93. originally a speech titled "Speech Against Segregated Transportation," by Charles Lenox Redmond. Reprinted in "The Liberator," Feb. 25, 1842. 55. Ibid., pp. 96-97. Taken from the works of Charles Sumner "The Sarah Roberts Case Against Segregated Education" (Excerpts from "Equality before the law: unconstitutionality of separate colored schools in Massachusetts"), argued before the Supreme Court of Mass. Dec. 4, 1849.
56. Ibid., pp. 98-99.
57. Benjamin Munn Ziegler, Desegregation and The Supreme Court,"D.C. Heath & Co., 1958, pp. 37-42.
58. Ibid., p. 42. Also see Edward S. Corwin, and Jack W. Peltason ,Understanding The Constitution, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1964, p. 147.
59. Ibid., p. 42. Also see Corwin & Peltason, op. cit., pp. 148-156.
60. Corwin & Peltason, op. cit., p. 159.
61. Joanne Grant, op. cit., p.159.
62. Ibid., p. 159.
63. Silberman, op. cit. pp. 6,7.
64. Bennett, op. cit., p. 86.
65. C. Vann Woodward, op, cit., p. 6.
66. Joanne Grant, op. cit., p. 165. Also see "A Negro attorney Testifies Against Segregated Travel, 1883." Senate report on Labor and Capital, testimony, Vol. IV, p. 382 1883). Statement of J. A. Scott of Birmingham, Ala. In Walter L. Fleming, Documentary History of Reconstruction (New York: McGraw Hill Book Co. 1966) II, pp. 446-47. First published by Arthur H. Clark, Cleveland, 1906-07
67. Benjamin Munn Ziegler, op. cit., pp. 49-56. Also see Joanne Grant, Editor History, Documents, and Analyses 1619 To Present, Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968, pp. 170-173.
68. C. Vann Woodward, op. cit., p. 7.
69. Ibid., p. 17.
70. Ibid. p. 20.
71 Lerone Bennett, op. cit., p. 96.
72. Ibid., p. 97. Also see Ginzburg's, 100 Years of Lynchings.
73. Ibid., p. 104.
74. Ibid., p. 104.
75. Joanne Grant op. cit. p. 203. "National Negro Committee Criticizes Booker T. Washington" 1910. See A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States, Herbert Aptheker, ed. (New York: The Citadel Press, 1951, pp. 884-886. A printed brochure, Race Relations in the United States, 1910 in DuBois MSS.
76. C. Vann Woodward, op. cit., p. 85.
77. Ibid., p. 95.
78. Joanne Grant, op cit., pp. 207-209. "The Niagara Movement Declaration of Principles" (1905 statement probably drafted by Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, the founder of the Niagara movement.
79. Ibid. pp. 242-43. "National Negro Congress The Call" (From the original call to congress held in 1935. The congress adopted resolutions urging unionization of Negro women workers, desegregation of public accommodations and schools, protection of migrant workers, and anti-lynch legislation. They also approved resolutions against war and fascism).
THE CENSORSHIP OF THE FREEDOMJOURNAL
"Big Ralph: Reflections of a Black Police Chief" The most Censored Book in American History Help fight the Censorship of Christianity and Black History
Peace be unto you,
Carl A. Patton the author of Big Ralph is a banned and censored writer. His work is censored and banned by Black and White racists, Black Colleges and Universities, Black politicians, Civil Rights organizations, Black Preachers, Mainstream Bookstores, Black Bookstores, Media that includes radio, TV, mainstream newspapers and the Black press, First Amendment organizations like the ACLU and their supporters and a vast assortment of people and organizations on the right and left.
About the Author
Women do you really believe that tight fitting clothing worn in church are pleasing to God. Tight jeans and pants worn by women are too revealing and are disrespectful to God and the church. These type clothes are also tempting to men and women should not seek to tempt men in church.
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