Sociology of Race and Ethic Relations
Chapter 7
This chapter provides an overview of the long history of slavery that continues to shape U.S. society and the lives of Black Americans today. It also discusses the history of Black resistance to racial oppression and inequality. The diverse strategies of African American leadership and the role of religion in Black struggles are considered.
Learning Objectives
To broaden your understanding of the history of African Americans from colonial times through 2002.
To understand the origins of slavery and its continuing impact on Black-White relations.
To understand the causes and nature of protest movements against racial inequality.
To explore the diversity of Black leaders approaches to the problem of inequality.
To understand the role of religion in the struggle for racial equality in the United States.
CHAPTER 7 THE MAKING OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN A WHITE AMERICA
1. History of African Americans from colonial times through the
1990s.
2. The origins of slavery and its continuing impact on Black White relations.
3. The causes and nature of protest movements against racial inequality.
4. The diversity of Black leaders' approaches to the problem of inequality.
5. The role of religion in the struggle for racial equality in the United States.
Lecture Notes
Two centuries of involuntary servitude of African people in America forms the focus of this chapter and the backdrop for understanding Black-White relations. As slavery developed in America, laws defining and maintaining the exploited position of Africans were enacted by the state. The church and family emerged as the primary social institutions in slave society. Vestiges of African culture in slave society can be found in folklore, religion, language, and music. Although there were multiple cultures represented in the enslaved population, Africa had and continues to have significance to Black Americans.
The aftermath of slavery with continued social, political and economic barriers to maintain the subordinate position of Blacks is discussed. Black leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois emerged as spokespersons for the Black population. Washington favored the politics of accommodation while Du Bois advocated the theory of the talented tenth. The establishment of the NAACP early in the 20th century was followed by demands for equal rights, as exemplified by the activism of A. Philip Randolph.
Over time, the Black struggle for equal rights has employed the tactics of civil disobedience as well as militant protest. Much of the South was unrelenting in determination to maintain a racist social order, and it became the site for significant social movement activism and counter-protest. Violence moved to the urban centers of the north and west in 1964-1968. The emergence of Black Power as new labeling for Black consciousness is explained.
The relevance of historical Black-White relations to the 20th century Black experience is considered, with attention paid to concentration in low-paying occupations, strength of the church and its leaders, residential segregation, and dependence on African American organizations to produce change.
Lecture Notes
1. What does the term Jim Crow mean?
Segregation laws (written and unwritten social codes) Laws passed in southern states to keep African Americans in an inferior position.
In the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896), the Supreme Court: strengthened Jim Crow laws, and separate but equal became the law of the land.
The Supreme Court approved the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, and residential requirements as a method of keeping Blacks from voting in the decision Williams v. Mississippi.(1898).
2. How do you think the past discrimination institutionalized in Jim Crow policies affects the life chances of African Americans today?
3. What was the White Primary? How did it affect the gains made during Reconstruction?
3. The Challenge of Black Leadership. This section outlines the various responses of Black American leaders to the institutionalization of White supremacy.
