Black Folk Here and There: An Essay in History and Anthropology, Volume 1

226 Pages·089.29 MB·English

by  St. Clair Drake

-
An Essay in History and Anthropo logy
Afro-American Culture and ~ociety
A CAAS Monograph Senes
Volume 7
STC. LAIRD RAKE
VOLUME 1
!CAN STUDIES
The Academic Editor for this Monograph was
CENTER FOR AFRO-AMER LOSA NGELES
Claudia Mitchell-Kernan. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
-
"
. in Publication Data In Memory of
f congress Catalogtng ALLISON DAVIS
Library0
(1902-1983)
Drake, St. fc:;~ere and there.
Black o d ·ety ISSN 0882-5297; v. 7- ) . guished social anthropologist and ed
. culture an soci , distln . . ucator wh f' .
/Afro-American . d index. - nd essays of his youth mspired the stud ose iction
Includesb iblio~aphies ~ Blacks-History. 3. Blacks~Nile River Valley_ poe tlh'Y ~ ati es to search f or meanm•g m. the Black E ents. of th e twe n ti.e s'
1. Racism-:-Hist?ry. Valley-History. 5. ':'fro-Americans-Race ldentit and t ~egro Deserts His People' ' [Plain Talk ~(~~~;te, especially
H1. st ory. 4. N.i le ARfivroe-rA rnen. ca n culture and society; v. 7, etc. Y. ''1:heh rs" [Opportunity, June 1928]. 1 49-54] and
I. Title. JI. Senes: 305_8,96 86-16045 ''fig te •
CB195.D72 1987
ISBN0 -934934-28-2 /set)
ISBN0 -934934-29-0 /pbk. : set)
ISBN0 -934934-20-7 (v. 1) Fighters
ISBN0-934934-21-5 /pbk.: v. 1)
These of the coal-black faces
Confide low-voiced,
Fisherman, washerwoman,
Quietly shutting themselves off
From the pool-room loafers.
Unbroken
By the salt spume of the sea,
Tight-lipped against the whispering fears of age,
He holds her laughing.
Centerf orA fro-AmericanS tudies In his keen eyes
Universityo f California,L os Angeles The gleam of one who knows he must endure
All shifting winds,
Copyright© 1987 by The Regentso f the University of California And hate
and St. Clair Drake
Of deep-embittered sons of slaving race,
Third Printing1 991
Must outreach
The hunger of insatiate women,
All rights reserved
And broken nets at sea.
Libraryo f Congress Catalog Card Number:
ISBN: 0-934934-20-7 Her brave face
0-934934-21-5 /pbk) Softens in a smile
ISSN: 0882-5297 And light of youth's long hopes and passion
Printed in the United States of America Sunk away.
But she has seasoned in her proper time
~e ~allowingp ublishers are among those which have generously given per And grown to mellow laughter.
f1~s10~t o use quotations from copyrighted works: Reprinted from Race Re Strong.
t~ ti~n.s Elementso f SocialD yna.mi.cs/ 197 6) by Oliver C Cox by permission Like some far runner turning with new vigor
~ e ~ayne State University Press. Copyright © 1976 b~ Wayne State Home.
mvers1tyP ress Detroit M' h' d T'h · Cul
tureR isto co' . ' ic igan. From Africa: Its Peoples an e1! . -
from th rybl.' hpynght© 1959 by McGraw-Hill Reproduced by permission Now she is firm
epu ~ e~ · Against the tearings of untimely births,
And sweating steam of clothes;
Designedb y SerenaS harp
Firm now, at last,
Mapsb y KathrynN irschl
Against the pleading smiles
Producedb y UCLA p b . .
TypographyF: reedmu ,l1coat1o_nS ervicesD ept. Of brutal, melancholy,
en s rgaruzation Rich voiced men.
~
CONTENTS
111ustrations
xi
preface
xv
.Acknowledgments
XXV
Introduction
1
White Racism and the Black Experience
13
1. Color Prejudice Then and Now
14
Varieties of Racism
20
White Racism and Pseudoscience
23
The Unique Onus of "Negroidness"
23
The Flourishing of Pseudoscientific Racism
25
Propagation of the Negro Stereotype
28
The Changing Functions of Racism and Color Prejudice
30
Ideology and Institutional Change
30
Twentieth-Century Forms of Racism and Color
Prejudice
31
Black Perspectives on Racism 32
Defining Racism 32
Classifying Types of Racism 34
Racism and Capitalism 36
Bibliographic Essay 38
2. Theories of Color Prejudice: A Critical Review 43
44
American ''Sociologistic Optimism "
44
Faith in Social Engineering
46
The 11 Somatic Norm Image' ' Critique
47
The Bases of "Sociologistic Optimism"
50
''High Visibility' 1 and Assimilation
55
Freudian and Marxian Approaches
57
The Rediscovery of Ethnicity
60
The Copenhagen Conference on Race
62
The Modern Manichaeans : New Wine in Old Bottles
62
The Black/White Symbolic Metaphor 66
Western Metaphysical Dualism 67
The Degler-Gergen Propositions
vii
The changing Images of Ethiopia and Eh' . Contents ix
... contents . s-racial Evaluations 75 Frorn ~ytho!ogical Ethiopia to the Ki~ i?1ans 272
vu• i.JlSin Tran 76 Ethiopia dunng the Ptolemaic Period g om of Meroe
Criticapl otll~ Ditllension 272
TheE sth. euDci tllens.1 on . 80 The Kingdom of Meroe and Its Cultur 273
TheE rotic e of 1rnrnoral1t~ . 82 The Somatic Norm in Meroe e 277
TheS" 'tyetrhe ootfY a Pc ogn itive •Dne Bfilcaictk /White Relations 84 nansf?rmati?ns in Meroitic Society 283
Th e 1n onents l 85 The D1ssolut10n of the Meroitic Kin d 287
s·ruationalc ornP d Social Structure 90 · f Ch· · g om
1 . d JdeologYa, n The A d opt10n o nst1anity 289
AtutU es, ative Research 92 J-Iellenization, Christianization, and the Bl k 291
TheN eedf or CotllPar 94 ac Self-Image 300
BibliographEics say . . Bibliographic Essay
Blacksi n Antiquity 115 309
3 NileV a lle y 117 Notes
. bivalentE xiles . 333
Arn . . s and African Preh1sto~y . 121 Index
NegroO ngl.1f1 E gypt and Ethiopia m Black History 130 377
TheR oleso . .
. s for ViewingE gyptian History 143
Perspective
147
Egypbt eforet he Pharaohs .
Racea nd Color in Predynast1c Egypt 151
165
Osirisi n Religiona nd Folklore
TheB lackP resencei n the Early Dynasties 172
OldK ingdomD ynasties 178
TheM iddleK ingdom's Black Dynasty 189
Egyp'ts "Great Humiliation" 195
TheE ighteenthD ynasty: Leaders of a National
Renaissance 200
Liberationa nd Empire Building 200
TheA khenatenI nterlude 206
The EgyptianP enetration of Nubia 217
The SocialI mpact of the Eighteenth Dynasty 222
TheR amessideA ge and the Decline of the Empire 222
TheR isea nd Fall of the Ethiopian (Twenty-fifth)
Dynasty 239
Piankhyt he Pious 240
Shabaka'sF oreignP olicy 242
TaharkaC onfrontsA ss ia 243
The Endo f "Bl k p yr 247
The Hellen· . ac ower" in Middle East Politics
The p izmg_P rocess in Egypt 250
sammetichiW h 0
The Greek , 'P .0 pened the Door 251
Ptolemies enetratwn'' under the Persians and the
256
ColorC od· .
s mg 10 Egypt b f
ocioculturalC o e ore Hellenization 259
ntext and Color Evaluations 270
~
cbattS
Types of Institutio nda~i~dantio: Attitudes Expressedi n
1
· Contact between 1n 1v1 ua 1s of Different Ra . G
c1a1 roups
88
2_ The Names of Colors as Verbal Symbols with Multiple
Referents
104
3 Ethnic Interaction during Predynastic Period and
· Dynasties One through Twelve
146
Maps
1. Vegetation Zones of Africa
116
2. Diffusion of Food Complexes in Africa 12
4
3. Ancient Settlements and Political Divisions in the
Nile Valley 126
4. The State System in the Middle East and Africa:N inth
Century B.c. 226
5. Extent of Urbanization and Political States in Africaa nd
the Americas: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries A.D. 292
Figures
1. Alveolar Prognathism in Two Skulls 154
a. Greek Specimen
b. West African Specimen
2
- Amenhotep I and his Wife, Queen-Mother Nefertari,
Being Venerated 202
3
· Nubian Slaves and Their Families Being Counted by
220
an Official: Eighteenth Dynasty
4
· Drummers and Dancers from Wawat and Kush:
220
Eighteenth Dynasty
262
S. The God Min in Ithyphallic Form
6 265
· 1-Iieroglyphic Symbol for Black
xi
L"dy Tiye: Metropolitan Museu fllustrations
.. JJJustr·a unos 328) (/,)Jfl/., J p • • m Statuette xiii
xu (followinpga ge young Nubian Pnnces Bringing T .b
pJates 1soos 23 . Dynasty n ute: Eighteenth
. .,. EarlY
1 Spb i n. ...
. . . Early1 970S _ }-lead of Taharka Found at Napata
z. SphiOJC· 24
3 Isiss uek l;nu Horus /(,J) 5• Nubian Bringing Tribute to Assy n.a n Court
· µ.,o f the Dead
_ Taharka: Portrayed as a Sphinx
4 Osirisa s Judgeo . 26
· K • D1oser
A ThirdD ynasty mg. . Meroitic Queen Slaying Enemies
27
5. Ki g of Third Dynasty
6. Unknown n . 28 · Queen Aminitore of Meroe Worsh·i pm. gAmon
sty King:M ycennus
7. FourthD y naas ty Princess: A Wife of Cheops , s Son 29 · Queen Aminitore of Meroe Being v enerated
s. Fourht Dy n 30. Kushite King: Napatan Period
a. Profile
31. Nigerian Woman: Nok Period
b. FrontalV iew
_ FifthD ynastyA rchitect: Nekhebu
9
IO. PrincesKs emsita nd Male Servant
11. PrincesKs emsita nd Female Servant
12. SesostriIs Depicteda s Osiris
13. An EighteenthD ynasty Pharaoh: Thutmose II or
AmenhoteIpI I
14. Heado f a BlackM an
15. AkhenatenE: arlyA marna Sculpture
16. AkhenatenL: ate Amarna Sculpture
17· Akhenate··n F rag ment fr om a Late Amarna Sculpture
18. QueenT iye:T he Berlin Head
19. ~hrQeGee ne~ationos f the Eighteenth Dynasty
· ueenT 1ye
b. Akhenaten
c. Nefertiti
d. PrincessM eryt-At
Nefertiti en, Daughter of Akhenaten and
20. NefertitiW orsh· .
21 N f ipmg the Aten
. e ertiti: Unfinish
ed Sculpture
:::-::-:---_
PREFACE
k Folk Here and There is part of a larger .
EJ~cwith a Fellowship for Independent Studyp:~~~e:~atI begani n
7
19 the National End~wment for the Humanities (Grant arch granted
byd r the title "Copmg and Co-optation." The p No. F77-41),
un e " . urpose of the pr ·
to carry out an ana1 y s1s of values and s b 1 OJect
was rged wit. hin. B 1a c k commumti.e s. i.n the DiasYpmo o s dt hat hav e
e111e , • , . ra an to relate
.....t,o the coping process at vanous periods in hi .
the J_µ. h 1 . al story and m
,J;versep laces w ere eco og1c and economic contexts .
bl k presentq wte
U,JJ. ;f:+ereonpt tions. Sm• ee ac communities have been and
UJ. I' h • l l , are, re1 a -
tively powerless, t eu cu tura products are constantly being 'co-
opted' for ends ot~e~ than those_they set for themselves."
Research and wntmg on the Diaspora was the primary focuso f ac
tivity during the year, but the "various periods in history" and the
"diverse places" selected for comparative purposes were not
neglected. Near the end of 1977, the Center for Afro-AmericaSn tudies
of the University of California, Los Angeles, expressed interest in
publishing a book that would utilize some of the comparative
material. Black Folk Here and There is the result, an examinationo f
the 11coping11 and "co-optation" processes over a wide expanseo f
time and space. Crucial in the Afro-Americans1 coping processh as
been their identification, over a time span of more than two cen
turies, with ancient Egypt and Ethiopia as symbols of black initiative
and success long before their enslavement on the plantations of the
New World. Great myths are always part of group-copings trategies.
The book begins with an examination of Nile Valleyc ivilizations,a f
ter a brief discussion of ''The Ambivalent Exiles" from Africaw ho
found themselves evolving as part of North American societi:s.
Th e Bl ac k Expene.n ce after the Roman Em pr·r e 's incorporanono f
j
Egypt on the eve of the Christian Era is conceptualized in vol~e
as a constant struggle by Nile Valley black elites to regain po itlic
t nomous deve op
Po wer and cultural independence. Instea d Of au O . ·a1
m d M ·d dl Eastern impen
rue nt, co-optation by Roman, Greek, an . i e i h degreeo f par-
. l~rs became their fate· however, they enJoyed ah gah African
tic1p t · ' · The sub-S aran
a ion as equals in some situations. • labor con-
Popul • f f 1 domestic ,
ation constituted a large pool o ema e ldi·ers and
cub· lued as so
Ines, and prostitutes; the males were va
xv
iwxnvto.i o r tkphereerfM a 1s·ec ! sel e a dd eiv ' tvaeer r ·lrieoa tpnYeeo dafun rna oni·e gd n pu 1M.r eea1 v c1'dp ua du1· lilt r ieus· nruEegisat s es.tli esnIer nnw1.d shiDoveliira.ade tsu 1.pa 0olunsrn aft irw o.a1ems rsae Ita phcvreaoe rcsrai ereWstdsis hto·1' o1l fe f fc dt0h fe e·nt ht~tµ10 ·.. s. t.. o. A.o ,egrrgeraicaicnenaisinvzt• eaN tV1ea0i•g. c ndr1 o.o 0 cuotAos £ rc baaAtlde sae scmakfuy rlo m.t sm.it"ne l Hl1e1ac8 rTt9vuh7aaer ·ld o s'n w wea aoss f o t"nhTe eh os etfa tDtheeedP f ferooenubfsan1ecd·e oee frcl xtsVthv ·o ie if s
Ne lgrs to be the inheritors of the ' 'vind1c· mt~m~e rs consideredt he e
the ~a::uectual currents in the eleventh century A.D.! followed by se ve d bl a ion1st', t d' . m-
ganradd llu1a Ils I aroizamtioicnb aengda nc u1 t ural European penetrat10n after th e wh i.·c n hg rtohoes tp reedvu1c.0 autse two accekn tmunene.s anadg awinosmt ean ha d .s porkae nit iaonnd, Wwirtihttienn'
ssivee cono h century. du ri . •f y h , , po 1o g1stsf or 1
a ~~ of the nineteent through the fifteenth, the Arab-Berber empted to JUSti t e peculiar institution" . h s averyw ho
at t · f • . wu the
roiF Illet he eighth centUfYkls with military skill, political acumen that Negroes were an m enor ammal-like breed of . argument
reo t rades iph o ned off. B . a ct alent for the bene f'i t o f M us 1i·m cultures , be treated as equals byo ther p~ople. mankmd unfit to
s1 ad v i ntellect_uA1a ai nd. arusucr them India. T h ese g if te d m. d'i vi' d uals were During the 1890s, m the thud decade after E . .
an
Spamt o no d d'd aganda was revived and intensified to defend ma~cipation, such
stretchinfgr om_ and marriage partners an i not generate
1 proP 1 1 . new mterests In h
bbtaueclra gacckeal c pncwot oe~mim tad hms. b stuuhotmec.1 ~a0u~~ neept ssme.~rm rout op \t~h rEieeau tDrGiooionpal esdopaefno nE rc aguA.yl tgTpuethri e·ea as nn i dnwk ci on.ct roohpwn oot uir1nate ut idero agdnce i a. b t1 oyh f ar otGttuhnrgebe.ihe urk ti octnuihn le-- gnaSnioe vd uwe t lhdsy ae nbtfhrct eetie sodlKna vuse 1troaKy v eruasuxc p iao.oK un1 t a tenotr h rf o aetnnm hsd. me. h pIlnoy a 1-nitw.th dihe.c ialteleN g ocisroslttmahat timeot rnual neddgietei·y s su1 ianga tinnuoe drdn e sfsta o su tdseern·1d'd v c i.eat tt s htt 0e.ee
telle. ctaula lss o• odn b y absorption of Moon.s h contn 'b ut1.0 ns m. si·c i· 1y and Negro racism to exc 1u d e Bl ac k s m. favor of job monopoliesu fs e ahn' ti-
Mediev peno . . d . h. h E orw 1te
. M while the elites withm black kmg oms became sup- immigrants. W1t m t e uropean powers, varied racist ideologies
Spam. ean ,
were elab.orated and propagated to ~efend the conquest and plunder
plierso f slaves. . .
Thet ransatlantics lave trade extendmg from the sixteenth century ing of Africa. Dr. Du Bms, who received his Ph.D. in history in 1895
throughth e mid-nineteenth century brought thousands of Africans was in the vanguard of the Afro-American, African, and West Indi~
into the new societies which were established in the Wes tern intellectuals dedicated to ''The Defense of the Negro AgainstV icious
Hemispheroen the basis of racials lavery. Their descendants were Assaults.''
forcedto live under systems where color-caste and color-class kept The intellectual tasks of "the defense" involved a continuous
thems ubordinatedto whites. Volume 2 is especially relevant to the searching criticism of the assumptions and facts used by some Dar
patternso f copinga nd co-optation that emerged in the Americas, winian evolutionists in an effort to prove that black people were
presentinags it does the historical background of European concep '' closest to the ape,'' and by those Social Darwinists who insistedt hat
tionso fb lacknessto which Africans in the New World had to adjust. Negroes were doomed to disappear in the struggle for existence
. A preliminardy rafto f BlackF olkH ere and There was prepared dur against superior Aryans Nordics and African "Hamites." The newly
~ the yeart hat I was an NEH grant recipient. After a critical read- emergent field of Mendelian gedetics was distorted by propag~dists
mgb yt hep bl' · b ·
u icatwn oard of the Center for Afro-American Studies cl~iming that Negro physical traits-dark-brown skin, ~Y hair,- ~d
saet UveCraLYlA ~re avriss io.n a nd ref m' ement began, a process that extended over th1ck lips-were an outward sign of an inner cogmtive def1C1t,
1
awardth at · wish to express my appreciation to the NEH for the causally connected with inherited intellectual inferiority. The battle
gavem e the op t • . • d' d
tractionsd • h . por umty to thmk and write without is- raged from the turn of the century to the outbreak of Wor1 WarhI,
urmg t e first y Of With · N stereotypes t en
responsiblfeo . . ear. course, that agency is in no way pseudoscientists reinforcing the anti- egro
r any attitude · •
T~et itle selectedf h' s or opm10ns expressed here. prevalent on the stage and in the popular press. k f
B f 11 · to the wor 0
saymHistoryand~~: 1s book, _Black_FolHk ere and There: An ~s Y 1910 Dr. Du Bois had begun to devote u time d p le and
wo£ha boBok b y thee mm· ent0 Apo&looA gym, is o. bv10usly a variation on the utl.e twhe N a~·1 ?nal Association for the Advancemen t °f Coalrodr-et raienoepd b lack
o ose lackF olkT hena nd - . encan scholar Dr. W.E.B. Du B~is, h'as editing its journal, Crisis. In 1915 another:a;: ociation for the
Ygeyao rafst fht eN egroR ac e Wasp uNbol'w h. An Essayi n the History andS ocial- s:storian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founded t fe ~;sgroHistoryeach
er the end of th e cl·V il W18a re, da nind 1am94o1n .g D trh .e D fuir sBt ofiesw 1 bbolranc kt hsrteue - lll~ndyth o ffo Nr etghreo nLexifte sainxdty -Hfiivseto ryy,e arws heoasren Jedo usrcnhoa l. 1y e a rticles designed
... preface . ted recor d of the Black Expe.r ience and t o Pu 1a tl. on in Egypt. H. e was one of the fi' rst wid 1 Preface xix
~u . btt be oft-difsrt or the con scious or .u nc'odn scious omissio n pob O1 a rs to call attention. to beliefs , held b y some e Y r.e ad Amer1· can
to set straige resulting orn eople. By comc1 ence Dr. Du Bois sc d f{oJ.lleric and classical Greeks' that the Ethio :nc1ent Egyptians
foifll s iin.g lilaflic. c ua nnbat fo ack t esn atbitoleud t bTlhacedk 1}v ef grN oe dgurori nLgi feth aen yde Hari ·s toofr yth. e Afo quunadritne g a11cnh1 .v 1l'la irzse ds"e emEeg ydp tt.o Ai·g nndo rhe e ba olstho tqhuee sEtitohnioepdi aw hk Y' mPaonsst choandt eomrigpionraalrY!y
publisheda .;ion for th~ Stu Y0du pdated it with the new title Blac; sc ~ est African kingdoms of Ghana Malin 1~gdom of Meroe and
th
oft he Assoc\aterh e revise~ and. tionist task still required attention e ·ng the capacities of black pe~ple foa nd Songhay when dis-
f centu!Y The vin ica . . . cuss1 . r eveloping com
o a m,1. en andN oW- D Bois in his ·saev enties, was still deter- societies. . P1 e x
foJ.k ld Warl l. u '
eveo f wor 'but1·on and he d1 so. The students who maugurated the Black Studies
the
omn.i .Ilde t o mak. e1 h9i' s1 c5o Dnrtn. D u Boi's chose to p. resent ha stra1·g h tforward , greW up between , , 1f9 6D7 aBn d . 1975 .r aised these qu est~ioonvse maneenwt thadt
In 1941, as in . , f African history pnor to t e European over- t b e.u.. . , , discovery. oh u . ms was mevitable befor e h e di' ed at th, an
tightlyk nit narrativeO d by an analysis of the slave trade and of inety-five m G ana m 1963. By then he had b e age
of n d . ecome an embar-
sceoalos en'axi pl ialnll1·spo en'n . afoh. lIsldmo aw fi.n tee rA thferi caab, o lai.tn i.do n oo f f sa 1nat vi 'ebrly a.c kH ed c'1 osnctnr·ma smte· adt iotnh e rtao s rsaJc.lilsemnt tmo. stohme .e Uamnt .eh adn. Se. t matgedsm , ah s ttio.l l meamnpyh. aSseizeiinngg nhois h b olp aec kf o nre asns eanndd
throughouttb e wfor ti·e th-century Africa with the artistic, intellec- his Pan-Africamsm, e Jome t e Communist party ·ust b f ak
depressde s ta'taelo twte'vni ty that existed in vano. us parts o f Afr1. ca prior ing up his se lf -i.m pose d exi. 1e m. Gh ana in 1961. Black1 Amerei coarne stu n--
ands oc1 crea 1 . f 1 .
~.A1 'al dislocations resulting rom s ave raids, the derstood, even when they could not approve of his decisions. The
1.UiUth, e mass. ives oc1
to f aterials the introduction of European and American Afro-American youth movement emphasized the value of Du Bois's
searcho r raw m , . uff d . h d
and the invasion of ahen values s use wit emean- early work not so much for its vindicationist effort to change white
trad e good s , . · h' h
ing and morallyd ebilitating White Racism. It 1s t 1s contrast t at attitudes and behavior as for its value in fostering black conscious
ivess ignificanceto his "then" and "now" frame of reference. ness and black solidarity.
g Du Boiss tressed-as all vindicationists do-the role of ancient Despite the ideological differences between Black Nationalists and
Egypat s an advancedA fricanc ivilization, refusing to define it as Near various types of Marxists that existed within the field of BlackS tudies
Easter, nas manyE uropean scholars insisted upon doing. He pointed during the formative years, Du Bois was accorded a place of honor by
out that someo f the early Egyptologists had stressed the essentially all as a pioneer in the struggle to give legitimacy to "blackness." Dur
Africanc haractero f Egyptian religious, familial, and political con ing the sixties Afro-American youth made the slogan "Black is Beau
cepts, but that their work had been virtually suppressed by racist tiful" a rallying cry, and thereafter the term "Negro" became an
scholarsw hoi nsisted that the creators of Egyptian civilization were insult. A stream of books appeared with the word Blacki n their titles.
"white," and that the impulses to their creativity had come from Some were revised editions of old books with the word Negroc hanged
st
Paleine,S yria,a nd Mesopotamia. Some white scholars did not deny to Black.
thhar t Africna s " Of mi·x ed blood'' sometimes sat on the pharaomc· During the late nineteenth century, when Du Bois firSt beg~ to
t 0~e, but they insisted that infusions of Negro blood led to the ~ublish, many educated Afro-Americans winced at th~ ap~ellatwn
dec1 me of Egy t O h
of th • P · t ers even claimed that no Egyptians regardless 'black.'' It excited shame. For others ''Negro" was a pe1orauvet elrm
troDvueeB rirs0 ay·1 pp stpo o·e oatkr· aa ncco'em sh m oo un lsde nevsee rv ib.e ew c aolfl ethde "ENgeygprtoiaens. " popul'a tio.n con- laeks'1 8 0 t(oa n "d n , i•gm georr.e''o veFr or stsiollu thoethrne rs Jtihme wCorro dw C Osi·gL nO sR rEeaDdw Was Ito-· Iotl' T conEa o fnord -r
~omN e,g romesw mitgh othuot steh at i·t s people represented a mixture of genes Ct OLO RED), even thou' gh they supported t h e N af 1 ?naa·l Alsasyoecd1 aa1 0co m-
c1entE gyptianss poke from many other peoples. He argued that an he Advancement of Colored People. Dr. Du Bo_is isph_ h still has
p~hoawreavoehrsa,D s ut hBeoyi sd did'd 0:: hroessep ewcthfouslley raocfe thweairs minodrueb itapbrolyb lernNauec~.r o rn0o n. ~ense approach to this nomenc 1a ture q~ estio1n1 'aw su bicj ect of con-
pt htical significance and is, even now, occas~on~ Y of books and ar-
m the developmenot 1ef naro Ylt rc ~ivsti lh· is a· rgument for black participation ·d tircolv er sy • H e frequently used the wor d N. eg1 0 m kti t a1ess i llustrated i.n hi.s
izations on the existence of a Negroi es but was also quite comfortable with Blac '
r
JOC Pr ef ac.e Thes ou1 s o f B1b a ckh Fteorlmk:s E aspspaeyasr a nm. d aS kDet uc hBoeiss. Tbwoook dt e' - .' 'Blatock a pisp lhyo wth ey oteur i_thni nlikter,a"l lyth eyto walelr ep eroe coleg ni· zm. g the probPlreemfa coef XJci
1903c la:~~'urb ooks Iate~,No troesi n the Maldng of America (1924r ingt as "black. ,, It is only recently hop wh?m they Wished try
d ceP . . . , Wever in to ac-
cadesa nG 'fto f BlackF ~ll<d-eg article in the New Republic, entitl the hberat10n strugg 1e m the United S, a more quiet pe . d
f
tie: The s1latehr e publish~ anl982 Dr. Du Bois cons idered it necee o udies programs h ave b een prepared to tat.e s , th at most BIn ok
r'w o yBeeairn gB lack,., Th. en., inC risis o' n the d'1 spute d quest10. n of propes - Stwell as t h e po 1i.t i.c a 1 uti ·1i·t y and creativ exam1 me th e ,,a b s urditiaec , ,
, On ditona1 m 'N ' ,, L'k r as I'd . e va ue of . s
saryt o writea ne der the t1't ie "The Nam· e · e· gro d . h 1 e·f Booker T · as Ymbol of group so 1 anty. This book h opes to usin.g ''black'' as
nome nclature, du nM arcus Gc"u" '•' eY, Du Bois ms1ste t a•t , 1. us.e d , th e su Ch discuss ion. .T hat hI wrote it at all is on e consecqoun tribute toward
Washingtoan n . I' d The young Blacks of the sixties insisted ing been drawn mto t e orbit of the Black Stud' ence of my hav-
words houldb e capita£iz ee~ and the word has virtually disappeared fter it originated. ies movement soon
. Negroo rev , d'
uponb urymg . edia and the visual me ia. For a work such as a In 1969, after thirty years of teaching and re h
th . 1 searc as a . I
fromb oth e prmtd~here however, it is necessary to use the word thropologist w h ose specia ty was comparative . soc1a an-
Bla ck FolkHfe reainfi ' contI exts one of w h'1 ch .1 s m. d1' scuss1.0 ns of the banizat1.0 n 1. n Afr1' can soci.e tie.s , I accepted a rpa ce. r e. 1 a t10nsa nd ur-
. umbero spec c , . d h f . . h . dd' . osition at Stanfa d
man . I literature I also use it now an t en or vanety be- University, w ere, ma it10n to teaching anthro f r
thropo1o g1ca . 1 f lf . . . ' . . d h po1 o gy or the next
3:°. h h ving won the important strugg e or se -defmition of seven years, I a d mm1stere t e Undergraduate Progr . Afri
whehVicLhtO th igas t b, atatl ef or a preferred desi.g nat1.0 n was an essent_i.a 1 part, we Afro-Americ· an s tu d i·e s (s ta nf ord ,s version of Blacka Smtum d · l cadn a nd
. f h C . ies an the
canb er elaxeda boutt he occasional use of_t he word Negro m scholarly Com_mittee o~ ~ e ompa~ative s.tudy of Africa and the Americas.
worksa s distinct from the popular media. The idea of wntmg a book m the field of comparative race r I t·
. . . ea 10ns
In the strugglet o have Afro-Americans called ''black,'' it is ironic had b een germmatmg m my mind throughout my entire academic
that, evena s the fight went on, the word had lost any connection career, and the thought of a volume calling attention to themes first
with a fixeds kin-colorr eferent. In fact, it may never have had one. developed by Du Bois in Black Folk Then and Now had also been on
DuringS hakespeare'sti me it could refer either to a dark English per my mind for some time . The decision to write such a book was
son, or it couldb e used, as in Othello, where the reference is obvi directly related to my late-in-life experiences at Stanford. I was al
ouslyt o a Negro.T aken literally, the word black was an absurdity ready at work on a comparative study of black communities in the
whena ppliedt o Afro-Americans after the first hundred years of Brit New World, to be called ' 'Africa and the Black Diaspora,'' when the
ish colonizationi n North America. Miscegenation had produced compelling necessity became evident for a volume dealingw ith the
so~e "Blacks" who were Caucasian in features had blond eyes and Black Experience before European expansion into the Western
h.a ir' :1d° k ' I ' .
s m-coo r usually referred to as "white." As late as the six- Hemisphere, and that, in fact, comprises the thematic substanceo f
t1es1m, somea reas of the country a person was considered ''black'' Black Folk Here and There. This work has the double purpose of
bY aw or custom if h h d Af ·
e a , or was suspected of having any ncan presenting factual data that should be more widely disseminated,a nd
ancestryh oweve , .
deal' mg ''th Afr' r remote and small in degree. At the same time, in of using those data to test certain beliefs about the prevalence of
wi 1cas o hr Afr·
cansa s "Negro"o r ,,;:-e ~,t. apologists refused to classify any 1- prejudice and discrimination against dark-skinned people generally
nd
sumedt o hav la~k if they were known to have, or were as a "Negroes" in particular. . the hu-
"Hamites n~'t~ ,nyw hite Caucasoid ancestry! They were dubbed At Stanford I found myself working with one colleag~e 10 bl
andL atin II e · trueN egroes." In some parts of the Islamic world bm an1 ·ire s whose credentials as a dedi.c ated l1'b era l were im. hp edc cbal acek,
Am, ~~~ol f
turesa re called" black,,' any people with pronounced Negroid e~- ut Who sneered at a book recently written by a distingms m· e Greco-
cl a · · . · t Negroes
ous degreeso f racial '. nd other terms are used to designate van- ssicist pointing out the lack of prejudice aga~s viction that
The Black St d' mixture. Ro ma · . . • d ·t h smcere con
it n antiqmty. This colleague msiste wi b judiced against
sist · u ies movem
_enciesa,n d of the r . _entg enerated discussion of these incon- d Was :natural'/ for all light -skinned peoples to her ectually put this
Afr1cansa nd ac1st impl. . . te I
iou d' People of full ~cations of names used to designa .dark-~kmned peoples . (Later I discovered that ~e a. aner in physics,
l ea in . N b 1 Pnze wm .d
s iaspora situation orW Partial African descent in Africa and var- ll1 d Print .) Another colleague, a O e h ·n the nationw1 e
s. hen Bl k d that 1
ac Nationalists concede a e no claim to be a liberal but reveled, rat er,