The New Negro: Explorations in Identity and Social Consciousness, 1910-1922 • by Ernest Allen,...

8/13/2019 The New Negro: Explorations in Identity and Social Consciousness, 1910-1922 by Ernest Allen, Jr.

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i n 1915 The Cul t ur al Moment , eds Adel e Hel l er and Loi s Rudni ck(New Br unsw ck, N Rut ger s Uni versi t y Press, 1991 , 48- 68

The New NegroExpl or at i ons i n I dent i t y and

Soci al Consci ousness,1910-1922

ERNEST ALLEN, J R

The worl d of t he fu tu re wi l ll ook upon t heworl d of today as an essent i al l y new turn-i ng poi nt i n t he path of human pr ogr ess Al l over t he worl d t he spi r i t of democr at i cs t r i vi ng i s maki ng i t s e l ff e l t The new ssueshave brought f o r t h new i deas of f r eedomp o l i t i c si ndus t r y and soci et yat l arge Thenew Negro l i vi ng i n t h i s new worl d i s j us tas r esponsi ve t o t hese new mpul ses as ot herpeopl e ar e

HU E RT HENRY HARRSON 1917

I f soci al devel opments j us t pri or t o and dur-i ng Wrl d Wr I ushered i n t he era of theNew Pol i t i cs , the New Sexual i t y, t he NewWman and the New Amer i can Cul ture i tal so gave r i s e t o the New Negro, whose r e l a-t i onshi p t o t hese other, pi oneer i ng soci alt rends proved t o be rather probl emati c Thegr eat est par a l l el s and i nter twni ngs betweenbl ack and whi t e devel opments of t he era aret o be f ound i n t he New o l i t i c s wher e, i n NewYork Ci ty especi al l y, a smal l but ferventnumber of nati ve- born bl ack Ameri cans andrecent l y arr i ved Wst I ndi ans were t o castt hei r l ot w th the Soci al i s t or Communi stpar t i es On the other hand, wt hi n the NewCul t ure movement , whose parti ci pants

were bound by a common commt ment t o de-mol i sh t he genteel t radi t i on i n order t ocrea te a new Ameri can cul ture i n i t s pl acethere were f ew echoes t o be f ound amongbl acks

True, among New Negro r adi cal s was t obe f ound t he general bel i ef that art shoul dsupport progressi ve soci al change However ,even bl ack r a di cal s tended t o harbor an over-

whel mng des i r e f or t he pr oj ect i on ofi deal i zed, genteel Negr o types i n l i t e r a -tu re , and t hei r i nt er es t i n Af r i can Amer i cant heat re st emmed mor e f r om t he des i r e t os teer exi s t i ng product i ons f r om the r eal m ofsl apst i ck, vaudevi l l i an entertai nment t omor e s er i ous t heat r i cal effo r t s , rather thant oward the ki nds of radi cal experi mentati ont hat such drama groups as t he Provi ncetownPl ayers were seeki ng t o accompl i sh 2 S mi l a r l y, the subj ec ts of Freudi ani sm andt he New Wman f ound f ew echoes wt hi nt he ranks of bl ack economc or pol i t i calr adi cal s , or t he l at e r New Negr o cul t ur a l -i s t s Moreover , except perhaps as exot i cother, Af r i can Ameri cans di st i ngui shedthemel ves by t hei r r el at i ve absence f r om t hedi scourse of whi te r adi cal s of the peri odUndeni abl y i nf l uenced by but temporal l yl aggi ng behi nd the radi cal pol i t i cal t rendsamong whi t es, the New Negr o movement f o ll owed i t s own, r el at i vel y aut onomous soci aldynamc

Two maj or quest i ons concern us hereHow di d the New Negr o movement a t ermempl oy i n t hi s essay t o denote the broad ar rayof r adi cal pol i t i cal , economc, and cul t ur altendenci es emer gi ng f r om a bl ack avant -garde l ocated pri mar i l y i n New York C tyr el at e t o i t s antecedents wthi n pr e- Wr l dWr I Af r i can Ameri ca ~ And what was t her el at i on between t hi s movement and paral l elradi cal tendenci es t hat emer ged among whi teAmeri can i nt e l l ect u al s dur i ng roughl y t hi ssame peri od ?

I n the l a t e ni neteenth century des i r es f oreconomc s t a b i l i t y and economc democracyon t he part of bl ack tenant f armer s andagrari an and i ndus t r i al wage earners al i kef ound w de, organi zed expressi on i n groupssuch as the Col ored Farmers Al l i ance and

the Kni ghts of Labor Among the masses ofworki ngcl ass Af r i can Ameri cans, i ssuesconcerni ng oppressi on and t he l ack of f o r-mal pol i t i cal democr acy t he r i ght t o t e s t i f yi n cour t or t o vote, f or exampl e) , whi l e


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50

I OLEONI NGT EI EADVEC~ OF THL OLD CBOVD I J LGRO

Fi aURE 13 Fol l ow ng t he Advi ce of t he `O dCrowd Negro . The Messenger (September1919), p 17 New York Publ i c Li brary, Astor,Lenox and Ti l den Foundati ons

exerci se the f ranchi se i n a l arger pol i ti calsense, the avai l abi l i ty of rel ati ve f reedomof expressi on and of associ ati on i n the Northal l owed f or parti ci pati on i n i ndependentt rade uni ons, protest groups, and the l i k e ,

whi ch (theoreti ca l y, at l east need not con-f i ne themel ves to the sphere of ref ormsmal one And f i nal l y, the exi stence of rel ati vel yl arge and compact , bl ack urban communi t i esal l owed f or the f l oweri ng of commerci al l yvi abl e, bl ack cul tura expressi ons (fromwhi ch bl ack fol k themel ves -di d not al wayscul l the pri nci pal economc rewards to behad) These i ncl uded the producti on ofbooks, magazi nes, and especi a l y news-

papers a race record i ndustry i n the f ormof separate but equal ta ent recrui tment,recordi ng, and di stri buti on of bl ack musi calf orm by domnant recordi ng compani es,bl ack theatre, w th i t s popul ar but as bl ack mddl e- cl ass commentators woul d compl ai n) excessi ve emphasi s upon vaudevi l l i anf orm ; as wel l as numerous restaurants,cabarets, and notori ous buf f et f l ats whereone mght sampl e al l possibl e vari eti es ofAf ri can Ameri can l i f e

Recentl y arri vedsouthern mgrants consti tuted a f ormdabl epol i ti cal and cul tura f orce whi ch, i n theteens and twenti es, had yet to determne i t s

ERNEST ALLEN J R

own, i ndependent voi ce apart f rom he bl ackpeti t bourgeoi s el ements whi ch sought to di -rect i t s f ormdabl e energi es Thei r suddenpresence duri ng the war t ransf ormed thef ace of the nort hern metropol i s Here wasthe source of the New Negro, or as Phi l i pRandol ph def i ned hi m the New Cr owdNegro :

As among other peopl es , the New Crowdmust be composed of young men who areeducated, radi cal and f earl ess YoungNegro radi cal s must control the press,church school s, pol i t i cs and l abor Thecondi ti ons for j oi ni ng the New Crowd areabi l i t y, radi ca i sm and s i ncer i ty The NewCrowd vi ews w th much expect ancy therevol ut i ons usheri ng i n a New Wrl d TheNew Crowd i s uncompromsi ng I t s tacti csare not def ensi ve but of f ensi ve I t woul dnot send notes after a Negro i s l ynched I twoul d not appea t o whi te l eaders I t woul dappea t o the pl ai n worki ng peopl e every-where The New Crowd sees that the warcame, that the Negro f ought , bl ed and di ed,and he i s not yet f ree

The New Crowd woul d have no armsti cew th l ynch- l aw no truce w th j i mcrow smand di sf ranchi sement no peace unti l theNegro r ecei ves hi s compl ete soci al , eco-

FORGF FO(f, 5 TII THF 1 TMOST~ FOR( :F OFI THOC7 ST NT OR U111 ~, v

f ~o~~~ i vI NGT l l e pMUN A DOSE ofr ns o\ vNMED CI NE

THE NE WC ROWD NEGRO MAK NG AMER G SAFE FOR H MSELF

FFGURE 14 The `New Crowd NegroAmeri ca Saf e f or Hi mel f . The Messenger Sep-tember 1919), p 17 New York Publ i c Li brary,Astor, Lenoxand Ti l den Foundati ons

Maki ng


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Moreover where the r i si ng bl ack ent repre-neuri al s t ra ta of the l at e ni neteenth centurypl aced emphasi s upon i ndi vi dual economcgai n New Negro r adi cal i ntel l ectual s overt-l y concerned themel ves wth the economcpl i ght of t hemasses of bl ack f ol k- but w th-out ceasi ng t o support bl ack economcentrepreneuri al i sm nd f i nal l y by t hemd-1920s i n contrast to-the t radi t i onal as-si ml ati oni sm of the bl ack-educated strata afresh stream of Af ri can Ameri can ar t i s t i cand i ntel l ectual t hought emer ged i n theform of a reformori ented cul t ural na-ti onal i sm The devel opment and refi nementof l i t er ar y bl ack cul ture New Negro cul tu r-al i st s bel i eved was the i ntel l ectual wedgepar excel l ence whi ch woul d eventual l y f orceopen the door t o bl ack soci al equal i ty Butthe mai n si gni f i cance of t hi s l at t er t rend wast hat the cul ture of t he Afr i can Ameri canmasses was t o be t aken as the base fromwhi ch t he new hi gh cul ture woul d extendHowever t he presence of t he awakeni ng massof Af ri can Ameri cans mght be i nterpretedby New Negro cul tural i st s or pol i t i cos i t sact i vi t i es remai ned central to the concernsof both

From 1900 onward powerful i deol ogi caltendenci es i n t he form of progressi vi sm so-ci al i sm and nat i onal i sm offered potent i alal t ernati ves t o Ameri cans i n general Wt hrespect t o Af ri can Ameri cans howeverturn-of-the-century progressi vi sm was asel f - contr adi c tory movement On the one

hand i t cont ri buted t o t he spread of reformsent i ments such as that mar ked by t he fo r-mati on of t he al l - bl ack N agara Movementi n 1905 The i nterraci al Nati onal Asso-ci at i on f or the Advancement of Col oredPeopl e formed i n 1909 whose whi tefoundi ng member s t i l t e d toward ei t her pro-gressi ve or soci al i s t sent i ment s, was al so aproduct of thi s devel opment On t he otherhand the reform sp i r i t of most wh te pro-

gr essi ves bal ked at any suggest i on ofAfr i can Ameri can c iv i c equal i t y I n t heSouth moreover t he l eaders of progressi vereform and of the segr egat i oni st i mpul se

ERNEST LLEN J R

agai nst bl acks wer e of ten i dent i ca1 Forthese l at t er reasons progressi vi sm was nevertrul y abl e to gai n a secure f oothol d amongAf ri can Ameri cans

Yet another al ternat i ve l ay i n t he embraceof Soci al i s t party doct ri ne whi ch vi ewed thesol ut i on t o the evi l s of moder n capi tal i st so-ci ety i n the constr ucti on of a cooperati vecommonweal t h where the basi c means ofproducti on agrari an as wel l as i ndustr i alwoul d be i n the hands of those who t hemsel ves wer e t he producers B acks such as Phi l i p Randol ph who embr aced soci al i smsaw i n the comng of the cooperati ve commonweal t h t he eradi cat i on of r aci smsrai son d etre Fundament al soci al conf l i ctswt h n Ameri can soci et y they bel i eved werebased pri nci pal l y upon the exi st ence of cl assdi vi s i ons Raci sm was somethi ng t hat t hecapi tal i s t cl ass f ostered among worki ng-cl ass wh tes i n order t o pol i t i cal l y di vi deworkers as a whol e al l the better t o expl oi tt hem Consequentl y the t ransformat i on oft he Ameri can economc structure from onebased upon capi tal i st expl oi ta t i on t o onebased upon pri nci pl es of soci al i s t coopera-t i o n woul d dest roy the foundat i on uponwhi ch raci sms exi st ence was predi cated 3Consi stent l y the assert i on of soci al i denti -t i es other t han t hose of soci al cl ass-f orexampl e those of an ethni c racial or na-t i onal bent- were consi dered aberr at i onsobfuscat i ons The growng ml i tancy andsoci al questi oni ng of at l east some member sof t he br eakaway entrepreneuri al strata

mer ged wt h soci al i s t t endenci es al readygrown popul ar i n many avenues of Ameri -can soci ety But i n appropri at i ng t hesear gument s as thei r own Harl em radi cal swer e l edt o bend and pl y the str i ct economcdet ermni sm of the Soci al i s t part y t o t hecompl exi ti es of bl ack economc and pol i t i call i f e Thi s they accompl i shed wt h varyi ngdegrees of success

Pol i t i cal sel f-determnat i on i n one form

or another was seen by more nati onal i s t i -cal l y ori ented Afr i can Ameri cans and WstI ndi ans as a means of addressi ng t he soci ali l l s i ncurred by bl ack Ameri cans as a whol e


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As far as nat i onal i sm was concerned, thereexi st ed t o be sure an Af r i can Amer i can t ra -di ti on extendi ng back t o the f r e e bl ackpopul at i on of t he l a t e ei ghteenth centuryThi s t r end t o nat i onal i sm was gi ven greateri mpet us dur i ng t he war by demands f or sel f-det ermnat i on occurr i ng wthi n Europe i nthe east among Pol es Ser bs Cr oat i ans andothers ; and i n t he west the ar med struggl ef or t he pol i t i cal i ndependence of I rel andBut Af r i can Amer i can and Af r i can Cari b-bean nat i onal i st s- who shoul d r eal l y becal l ed Pan-Nat i onal i sts si nce what theysought was the pol i t i cal l i bera t i on of bothAf r i ca and her di spersed descendants of theNew Worl d-were f urther di vi ded accord-i ng t o vi s i ons of the soci al conf i gurat i on ofnew oci eti es they sought t o br i ng t o f r u i t i o n For exampl e, Lef t nat i onal i s t s l i k e WstI ndi an- bor n Cyri l Br i ggs of the Af r i canB ood Brotherhood ABB t ended t o vi ewbl ack sel f - determnat i on i n soci al i s t term, i nt erms whi ch sought t o pl ace bl ack l aborers i ncontr ol of thei r economc dest i ni es therebyensur i ng t hem pol i t i cal cont rol over t hei rown l i ves l4 H s own nat i onal i sm t emperedmor e by bourgeoi s i nf l uences Mar cusGarvey, of the Uni versal Negr o I mprove-ment Associ at i on and Af r i can Communi t i esLeague UNA and ACL), was much mor et radi t i onal i n economc out l ook Acknow-edgi ng the exi stence of soci al probl emswthi n capi ta l i s t soci et y Garvey di dnot vi ewcapi tal i sm tsel f as t he pri nci pal cul pr i t buti nstead advocat ed the cappi ng of i ndi vi dual

accumul ati ons of weal th at one ml l i on dol -l ar s i n order t o keep expl oi t a t i on andconsequent c l ass di vi s i ons from get t i ng outof hand

Hence we see that among pol i t i cal NewNegroes of the aspi r i ng bl ack mddl e cl assthere exi st ed numer ous compet i ng i de-ol ogi es al though they had some commonbases Fi r s t the s i m l a r i t i e s between theset endenci es and t hei r ruptures wth mor e con-

servat i ve bl ack pent bourgeoi s el ements, l ayi n t he r el at i ve soci al i dent i f i cat i on of t hei rproponent s wth bl ack l abor er s a pos i t i onwhi ch hovered somewher e between authent i c

THE NEW NEGRO 5

cl ass sui ci de wher e cl ai ms t o pr i vi l egedsoci al i nsi ght based upon upper -cl ass statuswoul d be rel i nqui shed, and a t r adi t i onalpenchant f or radi cal i zed mddl e- cl ass i ndi -vi dual s t o vi ew themsel ves as natural l eader sof t he masses Second, the di f f eri ng pol i t i calt rends operated from the same premse nowwas the moment f or Af ri ca s descendants t o have t hei r pl ace i n t he sun t o sei ze controlover t hei r own pol i t i cal desti ny I f theLeague of Nat i ons f ound sel f - det erm nat i onf or eastern European nat i ons an appropri atecourse of act i on then sel f - determnat i on f orpeopl e of Af r i can descent was equal l y val i dVar i at i ons upon t hi s common t heme wer e t obe f ound among Af r i can Amer i can andAf r i can Car i bbean nat i onal i sts commu-ni sts and soci al i s t s

Thi rd, t h i s sense of sel f - determnati onamong pol i t i cal New Negr oes f ound echo i nt he expressed need f or at l east some degreeof i ndependent bl ack sel f - organi zat i on Thi swas true even f or those a l l i e d wth the So-c i a l i s t and earl y Communi st part i es f orwhom t he f orei gn l anguage f ederat i ons ofboth organi zat i ons served as model s of rel a-t i v e ethni c aut onomy wthi n l ar ger pol i t i calstructures Four t h, despi t e the soci al i s t pro-c l i v i t i e s of some, the act i vi t i es of al l wer et horoughl y i mbued wth the entrepreneur i alspi r i t of t he era f or i nst ance Wst I ndi anf ood i mport pr oj ects restaurants st eamshi p l i nes and t he l i ke as wel l as magazi neand newspaper publ i shi ng e f fo r t s whi ch, i nthemel ves, consti tuted pet ty economc

s t r i vi ngs Upon arr i vi ng i n New York, f orexampl e, t he poet and f uture pol i t i cal rad-i cal Cl aude McKay t r i e d hi s hand as arestaurateur and f ai l ed Mor e economcal l ysuccessf ul was hi s J amai can compatr i ot andSoci al i s t par ty member , Wl f red Domngo,who i mport ed Cari bbean f ood del i caci esf or a t ranspl anted Wst I ndi es cl i entel e l i vi ng i n New Yor k Ci ty The cent r al i t y ofeconomc entrepreneural i sm i n Mar cus

Garvey s vi s i on of a f r e e and i ndependentAf r i ca goes wt hout sayi ng but no l es s acommt ment t o bl ack busi nesses i n generalcoul d be consi s tent l y f ound i n t he pages of


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Owen and Randol ph s soci al i s t - or i entedMessenger magazi ne

Fi nal l y, i t i s i mpossi bl e not t o r emar kupon t he i nt ernat i onal i s t out l ook of pol i -t i cal New Negroes, t hei r ref usal t o vi ew t heAf r i can Amer i can struggl e f or sel f - di gni t yand soci al j us t i ce i n the Uni t ed States i n i s o

l a t i o n f r om si ml ar struggl es occur r i ngt hroughout t he gl obe I t woul d be d i f f i c u l tt o overesti mate the i mpact of these ant i -col oni al st r uggl es, and especi al l y t he Russi anr evol ut i on, on New Negro radi cal i zat i on Bl ack Har l em r adi cal s, f or exampl e, wer equi t e t aken w th the support f or col oni al i n-dependence contai ned i n the Mani f esto ofthe Communi st I nternat i ona i ssued at i t sf i r s t congress i n Mar ch 1919 Col oni alsl aves of Af r i ca and Asi a t he hour of pro-l et a r i an di ctatorshi p i n Eur ope w l l soundf or you as the hour of your del i verance i s

Asi de f r om the f i ve factors noted above,general l y speaki ng, di f f erences wer e pro-f ound Tor n bet ween bourgeoi s nat i onal i s tand bourgeoi s as si m l at i oni s t procl i vi t i es ,the pri nci pal t ensi on among pol i t i cal NewNegroes l ay al ong a nat i onal i s t / soci al i s t di -vi de i n whi ch quest i ons of soci al i dent i t yand of envi si oned soci al structure bothpl ayed a r ol e

The exi st ence of separate organ zat i onsand appl i ed publ i cat i ons The Negro Worl d,The Cr usader , The Messenger , The Eman-ci pat or ) bel i es a rel at i vel y hi gh l evel ofcooperat i on bet ween t hem at vari ous poi ntsand j unctures The i nt er acti on, much of

whi ch l ogi cal l y revol ved about t he on ymass-based organ zat i on among them theUNA i s qui te revea i ng Bl ack Soci al i s tpar t y member s Phi l i p Randol ph andChand er Owen shared at l east some of thegoal s of t he earl y UNA speaki ng f r omGarvey s pl at f orm i n 1918 and al so, as i smuch bet ter known, bi t t er l y opposi ng thepol i c i es of i t s f ounder f r om 1922 onwardWl f red Adol phous Domngo, al so a Soci al -

i st par ty member and a boyhood f ri end ofGar vey f r om t hei r earl y J amai ca days, wasthe edi tor of Garvey s Negro Worl d f r om t si ncept i on i n 1917 t o Domngo s resi gnat i on

ERNEST ALLEN, J R

f r om the paper t he f ol l owng year I n t hewake of the decl i neof pol i t i cal radi cal i sm i nHar l em Domngo woul d al so become a con-t r i butor t o Al ai n Locke s cl assi c vol um,The New Negro Gar vey hi mel f at tendedsever al meti ngs of t he shor t - l i ved Leagueof Dar ker Peopl es sponsored by The Mes-senger group and Madame C J Wal ker ofbl ack hai rdressi ng f ame i n part a pol i t i calresponse t o t he League of Nat i ons, whi chhad for the most part i gnored t he i nt er na-t i onal voi ces of peopl es of col or i n i t s

d spensi ng of post war t er r i tor i al cl ai m ls

And Cyri l Br i ggs and Ri chard B Mooreworked together on The Emanci pator, ed-i t e d by Wl f red Domngo, who i n turnw ot e occasi onal ar t i cl es f or The Messenger

Pl ayi ng a si ngul ar i deol ogi cal r ol e amongthe devel opi ng New Negro i ntel l i gents i af r om approxi matel y 1910 t o 1920, Huber tHar r i son served as an earl y ment or f or boththe Af r i can Amer i can soci al i s t and na-t i onal i s t or Pan-Af r i can st ) i deol ogi calcamps, whi ch woul d f i n d themel ves i n un-yi el di ng opposi t i on t o one another by earl y1920 Born i n Sai nt Croi x, Vi rgi n I sl ands, i n1883, Har r i son arr i ved i n New York i n1900- over a decade pri or t o the mgrati onsof most other West I nd ans desti ned t o pl aya radi cal pol i t i cal ro le on Amer i can pol i t-i cal t er r a i n l ~ Possessi ng a store of knowedgemany descri bed as encycl opedi c, Harr i sonassumed a ki nd of f ather ro le w th regard t ohi s cont emporar i es-thi s despi te hi s yout hSever al years pr i or to t he war s outbreak, he

had j oi ned t he Soci al i s t party, contr i but i ngrevi ew essays and ar t i cl es to the Cal l , I nt er-nati onal Soci al i st Revi ew, and Massesmagazi nes, i n addi t i on t o many non- Lef t pub-l i cat i ons But i n uptown Har l em Harr i sonwas perhaps best known f or hi s street-speaki ng at the i nt ersect i on of 135th StreetandLenox Avenue, a t r adi t i on f or whi ch hewas t he or i gi nat or l S I t was t hr ough suchstreet oratory t hat Har r i son i nstr ucted a

generat i on of Har l emt es- Randol ph andOwen i ncl uded- i n the super i or i ty of so-c i a l i s m over capi t al i s m hel pi ng t o w n asmal l number of conver ts f r om the bl ack


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communi ty t o t he Soci al i s t party even as heconteml ated pl ans t o l eave i t

Pri or t o t he war, Harri son once expl ai nedthe genesi s of Amri can raci sm i n the f o l -l ow ng way Duri ng t he peri od of sl averybl acks consti tuted the most thoroughl y ex-pl oi t ed of the Amri can prol etari at andthe most thoroughl y despi sed . The neces-sary contemt on t he part of t he rul i ng cl asstoward bl acks was di f f used among al l cl assesof Amri cans unt i l they were supposedl ysaturated w th i t t here exi sted an unavoi d-abl e cor re l at i on between t he domnant cl assand the domnant i deas of soci et y For Har-r i son, l i ke Eugene Debs, race prej udi ce wasa di r ect product of economc f orces, thef r u i t of economc subj ecti on and a f i xed i n-f er i or economc status He wr ot e, I t i s ther ef l ex of a soci al caste system That caste sys-tem n Amri ca i s what we roughl y ref er t oas the Race Probl em and i t i s t hus seen thatthe Negro probl em i s essent i al l y an eco-nomc probl em w th i t s roots i n sl avery pastand present l s But the cr i t i cal shortcomngof the Soci al i s t party s economc determ-

ni st argumnts, w thi n whi ch f ramworkHarri son was attemti ng t o argue, was thati t di sal l owed the recogni t i on and consequenttargeti ng of any speci f i c group among theprol et ar i at f or di rect organi zi ng e f f o r t s I nother words, no di rect Soci al i s t party appealt o bl ack workers was doctr i nal l y permssi -bl e On the other hand, w thout such aspeci al appeal , i t was cl ear t o Harri son thatthe at t r act i on of Af ri can Amri cans to the

party woul d be ni l Under such condi t i ons,how woul d i t be possi bl e t o extend theparty s appeal t o bl acks ?

I n order t o convi nce the party of i t s dutytoward Af ri can Amri cans, i t woul d be nec-essary t o argue outsi de the determni stparamters of strai ght soci al i sm Fi rst ofa l l argued Harri son, si nce the mssi on of theSoci al i s t party was to f ree the worki ngcl ass f rom expl oi t at i on, and si nce t he Negroi s the most rut hl ess l y expl oi t ed worki ngcl ass group i n Amri ca, the duty of the partyt o chami on hi s cause i s as cl ear as day Second, The mss of the Negro peopl e i n

TH N W N GRO 55

Amri ca are i gnorant of what soci al i smmans For thi s they are not so much t obl am Behi nd t he vei l of the col or l i n e noneof the great worl d movemnts f or soci al bet-termnt have been abl e to penetrat eCl earl y, speci al educati onal e f f o r t s wereneeded here Thi rd, the Negroes ofAmri ca- those of them who thi nk- aresuspi ci ous of Soci al i sm as of everythi ng thatcoms f rom the whi te peopl e of Amri caThey have seen that every movemnt f or theextensi on of democracy here has brokendown as soon as i t reached the col or l i n e Onl y speci al e f f o r t s cou d overcom such ahi story of di st rust nd f ourth- doctri nalpuri ty asi de- the party had al ready car-r i ed on speci al propaganda work amongrecent l y arri ved i mmgrant Pol es, Sl ovaks,Fi nns, Hungari ans and Li thuani ans zo

Harri son s f our argumnts added up t othe need f or a speci al Soci al i s t party appealt o Af ri can Amri cans But i f t he partycou d not be swayed on t hi s organi zi ngi ssue through pos i t i ve argumnt, perhaps i tcou d be convi nced through an evoki ng of a

counterrevol uti onary potent i al on the partof bl acks Here are tenml l i on Amri cans,al l prol et ari ans, hangi ng on the ragged edgeof the i mendi ng cl ass conf l i ct Lef t t o themsel ves they may becom as great a mnace t oour advanci ng ar my as i s the ar my of theuneml oyed, and f or preci sel y the sam rea-son : they can be used against us, as t he craf tuni ons have begun t o f i n d out 2i Mndf ul t otake i n t o account the party s ri ght w ng as

wel l as i t s l e f t Harri son al so noted the sup-port whi ch bl acks cou d bri ng to the bal l otbox (but al so the need f or the party to take astand against t hei r di sf ranchi semnt i n theSouth) , as wel l as t o i ndust ri al uni oni smFor nei ther Harri son nor l at er bl ack con-verts t o soci al i sm woul d i t be possi bl e ade-quatel y t o address the economc and pol i t i -cal status of Af ri can Amri can t o i l e r s sol el yf rom w thi n the st r i ct ures of economc-determni st dogm

I ncreasi ngl y di senchanted w th t he exi s-tence of raci smw thi n the Soci al i st part y,Harri son states t hat 1916 was the year that


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bl ack l aborers have been barred f rom prac-t i c i n g s k i l l e d tr ades i n t he Uni t ed States

Possessi ng no such i ndi spensabl e craftw th whi ch t o bargai n w th eml oyers,unski l l ed i ndustr i al workers f requent l y r e-sorted t o vi ol ent means f or the purpose ofregul at i ng comet i t i on among themel ves Numerous race r i o t s , such as those whi choccurred duri ng the Wrl d Wr I era i nChi cago and East St Loui s, provi de vi vi dexaml es of soci al phenomena i n whi ch thequesti on of l abor comet i t i on was f ound tobe at the core .3 So whether t hrough orga-ni zed ri tual or const i t ut i onal provi si on,work st oppages stri kes, or unrest rai nedvi ol ence, the i ntended resul t of each of theabove pract i ces on the part of workers wast he sam a curbi ng of j ob cometi t i onw thi n thei r respect i ve domi ns of l abor 31These pr act i ces, t hen, di d represent f orm ofcl ass st ruggl e, al bei t not i n t he l ong- rangei nterests of t he Amer i can worki ng cl ass as awhol e retardi ng as they di d any f ormt i onof mss prol etari an consci ousness I n theel i mnat i on of bl acks and other nati onal m-

nor i t i es as economc competi tors suchacti ons on the part of whi te Amer i can l a-borers of ten l ed as much t o a structural raci al i zi ng of producti on rel at i ons andconsequent di vi s i on of the Amer i can work-i ng cl ass al ong ethni c and nat i onal l i nes, asdi d di rect practi ces on thepart of i ndust r i al -i s t s themel ves The l at t er benef i t ed themost f rom such di vi si ons- pol i ti cal l y aswel l as economcal l y- and encouraged frac-

t i oni zi ng of th i s type up t o t hat cr i t i calpoi nt where t he erupti on of i nt erethni c hos-t i l i t i e s among workers threatened t o di sruptcommodi t y producti on i t s e l f

I t was preci sel y t he raci al segmntati ondescri bed above- t he speci f i c structuri ng ofsoci al rel at i ons whose resul t was a speci aloppressi on of Af ri can Amri cans aboveand beyond t he pol i t i cal oppressi on andeconomc expl oi t at i on endured by whi te l a-borers i n

general - that t he Soci al i s t partypreferred t o i gnore W have nothi ng spe-ci al t o of f er the Negro, admtted Eugene

TH N W N RO 57

Debs, and we cannot make separate appeal st o al l t he races The Soci al i s t Par ty i s t hepar ty of the wor ki ng cl ass, regardl ess ofcol or - t he whol e worki ng cl ass of the whol eworl d 3z The pract i cal i mpl i cat i ons of suchan apparent l y democrat i c and i nt ernat i onalst ance but one whi ch msked a r eal i t y ofsystemt i c speci al pr i vi l eges accorded a cer-t ai n strat um of whi te l abor) were that scoresof bl ack l aborers thus barred f rom eml oy-ment woul d be forced i n t o stri kebreaki ngj ust i n order t o survi ve To the barr i ers i mposed upon t hem under t he vei l of cl assf i r s t , numer ous bl ack to i l e rs respondedw th an equal l y dogmti c, but i nel uctabl epol i cy of race f i r s t , pl aci ng thei r i nt erest sas an oppressed nat i onal i ty above al l el s e. I ti s t hus i mortant t o underst and t hat thi s i deol ogy of race f i r s t , f ar f rom const i tut i ng amni festat i on of pent bourgeoi s nat i onal -i sm al one, possessed a deci ded mater i al baseamong vast s t ra ta of bl ack workers duri ngthe Wrl d Wr I and postwar peri ods

The al most si ml taneous departure ofHuber t Harri son f rom and the entry of

Chandl er Owen and Phi l i p Randol ph i n t othe Soci al i s t par t y i n 1916 f a i l e d t o causeany i mmdi atel y vi si bl e rupture betweenHarri son and hi s f ormr f ol l owers . Forexaml e, as la te as November 1917, The Mes -senger carr i ed Harri son s gl ow ng revi ew ofthe sml l book Term of Peace and t heDarker Races, wri t ten by Owen andRandol ph 33 The fol l ow ng mont h, however ,bat t l e l i nes had been dr awn : i n a debate at

the Pal ace Casi no on 23 December Chandl erOwen, accordi ng t o Harri son s account , f i er cel y mi ntai ned `t hat the doctr i ne ofrace f i r s t was an i ndef ensi bl e doct r i ne ; M Harri son mi nt ai ni ng t hat i t was t he sourceof sal vati on f or the race Bot h these gent l e-men have r un true t o f orm ever si nce a4

H s bel i ef i n soci al i sm as f ervent as ever,Harri son manwhi l e was i mart i ng t o t hi sbasi c convi cti on an i ncreasi ngl y nat i onal i sti nt erpret at i on I n t he Uni ted States, the so-ci al effect s of t he war had unl eashed thenor t hward mgrat i ons of bl acks and the


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58

red summrs whi ch resul ted abroad,the col ored worl d was par t i al l y st i r r edi nt o acti on agai nst the occupyi ng col oni alpowers Whereas such events demnstratedt o Owen and Randol ph t he necessi t y ofwhi t e, worki ngcl ass all ies f or t he bl ackst r uggl e, they st rongl y suggested t o Har-ri son t he necessi ty of col ored al l ies on ani nternat i onal scal e Hence to the sl ogan of cl ass f i r s t , that r i g i d l y determni st for-mul a of t he Soci al i st part y t o whi ch he hadf ormrl y subscri bed, Harr i son posed anequal l y dogmt i c race f i r s t , never ful l yunderstandi ng t he di al ecti c of race andcl ass as they occur i n t he nati onal questi on s

Whereas cl ass f i r s t i gnored t he speci al op-pressi on whi ch bl acks qua bl acks suf f eredabove and beyond t hat borne by whi te l a-borers, race f i r s t obl i t erated the cl assaspects of the Af ri can Amri can st r uggl e,resul t i ng i n t he i deol ogi cal ef f acemntof t he cl ass character of oppressi on andof mvement goal s, tendi ng t o pl acethi s struggl e under the tutel age of pentbourgeoi s pol i ti cal and i deol ogi cal hegem

ony Harri son s i deol ogi cal mt amrphosi scu mnated i n a doubl e i r ony, however : f i r s tthat he wou d be l ed to at tack hi s f ormrfol l owers of Af ri can descent who er -ri ngl y cont i nued down the soci al i st path ;second, that hi s i mmnse e f fo r t s wou d soonbe ecl i psed by the success of a young mnf rom J ami ca who had gai ned a start wt hHarri son s own or gani zat i on, the Li bert yLeague

The Li bert y League of Negro- Amri canswas f ormd by Hubert Harr i son i n J une1917 The or gani zat i on s stated purpose was to take steps t o uproot the t wo evi l s ofl ynchi ng and di sf ranchi semnt and to pet i -t i on the governmnt f or a redress ofgri evances 3s G ven Harri son s commt -mnt t o soci al i sm one can be assured thatmre radi cal goal s were i nvol ved as wel l I twas at the f i r s t met i ng of the l eague t hatMarcus Garvey i s sai d t o have mde hi s f i r s tposi t i ve i mressi on upon a Harl em crowdFor al l who had heard Harri son speak, the

ERNEST LLEN J R

general consensus was t hat he was a keen andhi ghl y ski l l ed orator 7 Not nearl y aschari smt i c a f i gure as Garvey however ,Harri son s organi zat i onal abi l i t ies were al soevi dentl y somwhat l ess t han sat i sf actory

s one observer of t he Harl em sceneremrked,

Garvey publ i cl y eul ogi zed Harr i son,j oi ned the Li bert y League and took akeeni nt erest i n i t s af f ai r s Harri son bl underedfa t a l ly H s errors were s o evi dent t hat hi sf ol l owers coul d not but observe t hem s ocostl y t hat i nt erest i n t he Li bert y Leaguewaned and Har r i son s deserters soon be-cam ent husi asti c admrers of Garvey, andaccordi ngl y j oi ned the New York branch oft he Uni versal Negro I mrovemnt Asso-ci ati on and Af ri can Communi t i es Leaguewhi ch Garvey, i n t he meant i me, hadf ormd H s f ai l ure and t he di ssati sf acti onof hi s f ol l owers not w t hst andi ng, Har r i sonr ender ed mmrabl e educat i onal and con-structi ve communi t y servi cet o t he Negroesof Harl em I t my be t r ul y sai d t hat he wast he f orerunner of Garvey and cont ri but edl argel y t o t he success of t he l att er by pre-pari ng t he mnds of Negroes t hrough hi sl ectures, t her eby mu di ng and devel opi nga new temer amng Negroes whi ch un-doubtedl y mde t he task of t he J ami canmuch easi er t han i t ot herw se wou d havebeen I n j usti ce t o both and w t h equaltruth, i t my be decl ar ed that t he success ofGarveywas bui l t on t he rui ns of Har r i son sfa i lu re The popul ar i t y of t he f ormer i n-cr eased i mmasurabl y as he became apot ent f actor, hi s pr edecessor becam a

negl i gi bl e uni t 8

The i rony of hi s standi ng i n t he fu l lshadow of a Garveyi sm whi ch he hi mel fhad hel ped i n f ormu ati ng, woul d not escapeHarri son, a f act upon whi ch hi s f ormr comrades wou d l i ghtheart edl y pl ay 9 Harri -son s now open attack upon bl ack soci al i stsand hi s concomtant support f or Garvey i n1919 appear t o be part l y mti vated by an at-t emt t o r eestabl i sh i n t he publ i c domi n aknow edge of the ori gi ns of Garvey si deas


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One of t he most t aki ng ent erpri ses at p re s -ent i s t he Bl ack Star Li ne, a st eamshi pent er pr i se f l o a t e dby M Mar cus Gar vey ofNew York Gar vey s pr oj ect ( what evermay be i t sul t i mat e f a t e has a t t r a c t e dt e n sof t housands of Negr oes Where Negr o radi cal s of t he type known t owhi t er a d i -c a l s can scarce [ s i c J get a handf ul ofpeopl e, Gar vey l l st he l a r g es th a l l sand t heNegr o peopl e r a i n money on hi m Thi s i snot t o be expl ai nedby t he ar gument of su-per i or br ai ns, f or t h i s man s educati onand i n t e l l i g e n c ear e mar kedl y i n f e r i o rt ot hose of t heb r i l l i a n t r adi cal s whose i n-t er nat i onal i sm i s drawn f r o mother thanr adi cal sour ces But t h i s man hol ds up t ot he Negro masses those t hi ngs whi chbl oomi n t hei r hear t s - r aci al i sm race consci ous-ness, r a c i a lsol i dar i t y- t hi ngs t aught f i r s tbyThe Voi ceand t he Li ber t yLeague That s t he sec re tof hi s success ,so f ar 4o

I n hi s aut obi ogr aphy, poet Cl aude McKaynot ed that when he began hi s new j ob as as -si stant edi t or of t he l ef t - wi ng Li ber at ormagazi ne i n Apr i l 1921, Hubert Harr i son,

t he Harl em st r eet - corner l ect ure r and agi -t a t o r , vi si t ed t he magazi ne s 14t h Streetheadquar t er s t o t ender hi s congr at ul at i ons

I i nt r oduced hi m t o Rober t Mnor, whowas i nt er ested i n t he a c t i v i t i e sof t he ad-vanced Negr o r a d i c a l s Har r i sonsuggest eda l i t t l emeet i ng that woul d i ncl ude t he r e s tof t he bl ack Reds I t was arranged t o takepl ace at t he Li berat or o f f i c e ,and besi desHar r i son there wer e Gr ace Campbel l , oneof t he pi oneer Negr o member s of t he So-c i a l i s tPar ty Ri char d Moor e and W ADom ngo, who edi t ed t he Emanci pat or , ar a d i c a lHarl em weekl y Cyr i l Br i ggs, t hef ounder of t he Af r i can Bl ood Brother-hood and edi t o rof t he mont hl y magazi ne,The Cr usader M Fanni ng, who ownedt he onl y Negr o ci gar s t o r ei n Harl em ; andone Ot t o Hui swoud, who hai l ed f r o mCur a-cao, t he bi r t hpl ace of Dani el Del eon Per haps there wer e others whom I don t

r emember The r e a l o bj e c tof t he meet i ng, It hi nk ,was t o di s c us st he p o s s i b i l i t yof mak-i ng t he Gar vey Back- t o-Af r i caMovement

THE NEW NEGRO

of f i ci a l l yc a l l e d t he Uni ver sal Negr oI mpr ovement Associ at i on) mor e c l ass-consci ous 4

59

From r ecent l y publ i shed cor r espondencebetween McKay and Max East man weknowthe re was at l east one other such meet i ng i n1921 as we11 42 But f ar f rom bei ng a mereneut r al obser ver of these event s, as hi saut obi ogr aphy especi al l y i ndi cat es, Cl audeMcKay was an acti ve l eader of t he Af r i c anBl ood Brotherhood ABB at t he t i me Mor eover , t he meet i ngs hel d i n t he Li berat oro f f i c ewere precursors t o t he en t ry of l eadershi p i n t o t he Ameri can Communi stpa r ty

I n l a t e May or ear l y J une, accor di ng t o Bu-reau of I nvest i gat i on reports , Rose Past orSt okes, a key l i a i s o nbetween t he Communi stpa r ty and ear l y bl ack Harl em r adi cal s, hos-t ed a di nner par t y f or eader s Cyr i l VBr i ggs, Wl f red Domngo, and Cl audeMcKay, as wel l as Hubert H Harri son andEdgar M Grey of t he L i ber t y League ofNegr o- Amer i cans, at her Greenwch Vi l l agehome 4s Ther e, accor di ng t o Grey who wasdoubl i ng as a government i nf ormant ) , Ms St okes o ff e r e d Russi an gol d t o t he twoorgani zat i ons i f they woul d be wi l l i ng t osuppor t t he Communi st party s posi t i on Har r i son and Grey decl i ned, at l east par t l yout of commtment t o Pan- nat i onal i sti deal s 44 Brotherhood l eaders, al r eady i nharmony wi t h t he Comntern s gener al out -l o ok , and w th a devot i on t o cl andesti ne

organi zat i onas zeal ous as t hat of t he then ex-i s t i n g Ameri can Communi st party, r e adi l yaccept ed 45 Accordi ng t o one account , thosesever al meet i ngs between bl ack and whi t er adi cal s i n t h e L i ber at o r o f f i c e l ed t o t hei ncor por at i on of f our key l eaders of t heHarl embased Af ri can B ood Brotherhoodi n t o t he Ameri canCommuni st pa r ty by ear l yf a 11 46 That August t he ABB, wi t h vi gor ousbacki ng of t he party, di d at t empt , al bei t un-

successf ul l y, t o i nf l uence t h eout come of t hesecond annual convent i on of t he Uni ver salNegro I mprovement Associ at i on47


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60

But t he secret organi zati on known as theAf r i can B ood Brother hood di d not begi nl i f e as the pri nci pal recrui t i ng arm of theCommuni st par ty among pot ent i al bl ackconsti tuent s Li ke Harr i son s Li ber tyLeague of Negr o-Amr i cans and Mar cusGar vey s Uni versal Negro I mr ovemntAssoci ati on, the Af r i can B ood Br otherhoodwas f ounded mi nl y i n the spi r i t of Pan-Af ri cani st sol i dar i t y I deol ogi cal l y cl oser t oHarr i son, however , t he wel comd po-l i t i c a l al l i ances wth cl ass-consci ous whi tel aborers Despi te the exi st ence of cont r adi c-tory dates i n t he hi stori cal record, i t appearsthat the was f or md i n t he l at t er partof 1919 48 I t s ni ne- poi nt pol i t i cal programadopted i n 1920 ref l ect ed t he fol l owng con-cer ns 1) a l i berated race i n the Uni tedStates, Af ri ca and el sewhere ; 2 absol uterace equal i ty ; 3 the f osteri ng of raci al sel f -respect ; 4) organi zed and uncomr omsi ngopposi ti on t o the Ku Kl ux Kl an ; 5 a uni tedNegro f ront ; 6) i ndustr i al devel opmntal ong genu ne cooperati ve l i nes ; 7 hi gherwages, shorter hours and better l i vi ng con-

di ti ons f or Negro l abor ; 8 educati on ; and9 cooperati on wth other dar ker races andwth cl ass-consci ous whi te wor kers 4s

By md- 1920, t he boasted over1 000 men and women of Af r i can bl ood,wth post commands i n vari ous ci t i es of theUni ted States, i n t he West I ndi es, Centraland South Amr i ca and i n West Af r i ca s

nd by the fol l owng year several of i t spri nci pal l eader s- notabl y C aude McKay

and Cyri lV

Br i ggs- j oi ned the Amr i canCommuni st par tyHowever i mressi ve t hei r pr ogr am on

paper or i n practi ce, the organi zat i onal ef -fo r t s of the Li ber ty League, t he Af r i canB ood Brotherhood, bl ack Soci al i sts, andl esser l i ght s woul d rest i n the shadow of thegreatest mss mvemnt of the earl y twen-t i et h centur y among peopl es of Af r i candescent t he Uni versal Negro I mr ovemntAssoci ati on- or Gar vey mvemnt as i twas popu ar l y known Al though the UNdi d not possess t he ml l i ons of mmer s thati t cl ai md- the best evi dence coms from

ERNEST LLEN J R

Wl f r ed Domngo who esti mted som100,000 mmer s at i t s hei ght 5l - ther e i s noquesti on that the or gani zati on s soci al vi -si on was shared by m l l i ons of adherentsboth wthi n and wthout the Uni ted States

mong t he mny, coml ex, and of ten mutu-a l l y contr adi ctory i deol ogi cal str ands ofwhi ch Garveyi sm was comri sed, t he un-waver i ng pol i t i cal i deal of i ndependentAf r i can nati onhood l ay at i t s core Gar vey svi si on, mreover, was not that of a nar r ownat i onal i sm but of a Pan-nati onal i sm a visi on whi ch sought t o pol i t i cal l y l i nk peopl esof Af r i can descent who wer e part of t hewestern di aspora wth those of thei r cont i -nental mther l and of Af ri ca

The i ni t i al strands of t hat l i nk wer e t o bef orged i n the establ i shmnt of a UN col -ony on the Af r i can conti nent Li ber i a wasthe pr i nci pal obj ect of UN ef f or t s i n thi sregard, but the f ormr Ger man t er r i tor i es ofSouthwest Af ri ca the Camroons, and Tan-ganyi ka, then under t he protect i on of t heLeague of Nat i ons wer e al so the targets ofUN l obbyi ng energi es Once the col ony

was wel l establ i shed, Gar vey envi si oned t hef or mti on of an Af r i can emi re mdel ed onthe mst powerf u emi re of the ti m- thatof the Bri ti sh The mans by whi ch t hi s empi re was t o be establ i shed and supported,was t hat of mrcanti l i sm the establ i shmntof trade between the Af r i can cont i nent ,abundant i n mner al weal th the West I ndi es,r i ch i n agrari an produce, and peopl es ofAf r i can descent i n i ndust r i al i zed North

Amr i ca, wher e processi ng of such r aw commdi ti es woul d take pl ace 52 From a soci alstandpoi nt, t hi s gl obal sel f -hel p ent er pri sewoul d provi de eml oymnt and economcsecuri t y f or peopl e of Af r i can descent ndby vi r tue of the powerf u ar m, navy, andai r force of a pol i t i cal l y uni f i ed Af ri ca i twoul d afford them pol i t i cal pr ot ecti on aswel l , reachi ng as f ar as the Amr i candi aspora 53

I ni t i al l y a J ami can- based or gani zati on,t he UN was establ i shed by Mar cus Gar veyi n 1914 al ong the l i nes of Booker T Wsh-i ngton s Tuskegee I nsti tute, and was trans-


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pl anted by Garvey t o i t s Harl em New YorkCi t y headquart ers i n 1917 Fol l ow ng sev-eral f al s e s ta r ts Garvey was abl e t o r ecr ui t acore of adherents around whi ch an i nt er na-t i onal organi zat i on woul d take f orm I t sw del y i nf l uent i al newspaper, The NegroWorl d, was est abl i shed the fo l ow ng yearand enj oyed an uni nterrupted run unt i l1933 when i t ceased producti on One of theUN A s most spectacul ar successes was demonst rated i n i t s abi l i ty through a separatecorporate ent i t y known as the B ack StarLi ne t o successf ul l y l aunch i t s own st eamshi p enterpri se i n the f a l l of 1919 Ot herent erpr i ses qui ckl y fo l owed i n New YorkCi ty the Uni versal Ml l i nery Store theUni versal St eam Laundry, and several gro-cery s tores Cl earl y seeki ng w der hori zonswas the Negro Factori es Corporati on, t he os-tens i bl e purpose of whi ch was t o bui l d ownand operate f acto r i es al l over t hese Uni t edStates the West I ndi es Central and SouthAmeri ca and Afri ca, but whi ch exi st edmost l y on paper 5 Launched i n the mdst ofa r el at i vel y prosperous wart i me economy,

the UN s amb t i ous pecuni ary undertak-i ngs qui ckl y succumbed t o the post warr ecessi on Fi nanci al di f f i cul t i es duri ng t heUN s f i r s t I nternat i onal Convent i on ofthe Negro Peopl es of t he Worl d, hel dthroughout t he ent i r e mont h of August 1920i n New York Ci t y al most l ed t o i t s prem-ture cancel l at i on

The deteri orati on of the UN s i nt er naleconomc a ffa i r s t ri ggered not onl y by un-

sound steamhi p acqui s i t i ons and abysmalmanagement , but al so by the grow ng i n-a b i l i t y of UN adherent s under depressi veeconomc condi t i ons t o cont i nue maki ngfurther cash cont ri but i ons t o or stock pur-chases f rom the organi zat i on was a pri n-ci pal f act or prompti ng Garvey s February1921 speaki ng and fund-rai si ng tour ofPanama, Cost a Ri ca and t he West I ndi es Upon compl eti on of hi s successf ul j ourney

Garvey at t empted t o reenter the Uni tedStates onl y t o f i n d hi mel f barred as an un-desi r abl e al i en

Here l i e s a cruci al t urni ng poi nt i n Gar-

THE NEW NEGRO 6

veyi sm as an i deo ogy Wen f i n a l l yadmtt ed i n t o t he count ry at New Or l eansGarvey began a backtracki ng on the ques-t i o n of b ack Ameri can c iv i l r i ght s Fai l i ngei t her t o stem the zeal ous desi r e on the partof f ederal government agenci es t o prosecutehi m or t o secure mteri al support f or theUN f rom ei t her l i bera l or conservat i vewhi tes f or hi s program he di d manage t ogal vani ze a f er oci ous opposi t i on t o hi s pl ansf rom b ack mddl e- cl ass el emnts I n ear l y1922 Marcus Garvey was i ndi cted f or us-i ng t he mi l s t o def raud- more speci f i cal l yf or s el l i ng f raudul ent B ack Star Li ne stockt hrough the mi l s I t was tr ue that Gar-vey had proved hi mel f thoroughl y i ncapa-bl e of separat i ng the busi ness pr act i ces ofthe UN f rom i t s promot i onal act i vi t i esand had t hereby l e f t hi mel f open t o val i dcharges of msmanagement But t he chargeof st ock f raud seem t o be l i t t l e more thana mni pul at i ve e f fo r t on the part of f ederalprosecutors to conveni entl y r i d themel vesof a f orei gn-born agi tator who, notw th-st andi ng hi s r ecent compromses on the

quest i on of Af ri can Ameri can domsti cr i ght s s t i l l represented a pot ent i al t hr eat t odomsti c t ranqui l i t y-not t o mnt i on west -ern col oni al i nt erest s i n Afri ca and t he WestI ndi es Lack of evi dence on t he prosecu-t i on s part may account f or t he year- l ongdel ay bet ween Garvey s i ndi ctmnt (md-

May 1922) and t he commencement of hi scourt t r i a l ( md-May 1923) I n t he man-t i me Garvey s b ack pol i t i cal opposi t i on

out si de the UN was goaded i n t o act i on byhi s v i s i t w th t he I meri al G ant of the KuK ux K an i n At l ant a t he r ecei pt of a hu-man hand by Garvey pol i t i cal f oe Phi l i pRandol ph i n the mi l ; and i n New Orl eansi n earl y 1923 the assass i nat i on by Gar-veyi t es of a f ormr UN off ic ia l 5s

To be sure Marcus Garvey s court t r i a l of1923 i n no way marked the end ei t her of thei ndomtab e l eader or of hi s organi zati on

For examl e, he managed t o stun hi s opposi -t i o n w th t he purchase of yet a f ourt h shi pthe fol l ow ng year Yet t roub i ng economccondi t i ons w thi n the Uni t ed States and


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62

grow ng real i zat i on that one of hi s mostcentral pol i t i cal goal s- the est abl i shi ng of abeachhead on t he Af ri can cont i nent - hadmoved beyond hi s reach seem t o have pro-pel l ed Garvey i nt o an i ncreasi ngl y unten-abl e i deol ogi cal partnershi p wth ri ght-wngr eact i onar i es

The f u l l story of the UN A s decl i ne hasbeen t ol d many t i mes and wi l l not be r epeated here 56 I t s poorl y concei ved andexecuted economc pol i ci es made worse bycases of i nt er nal sabotage as wel l as by thepost - Worl d Wr I r ecessi on serve mai nl y asnegati ve exampl e The UN A s economcnat i onal i sm whi l e as att ract i ve t o bl ack en-t repreneurs as that of Booker T Wash-i ngt on remai ned onl y a dreamOne can onl yspecul ate what mght have occurred hadt he UN est abl i shed a secure f oothol d i nLi beri a or el sewhere i n Af r i ca but t hetruth i s that the hi story of modern sett l ercol oni es however nobl e the i n i t i a l i nt ent i ons of sett l ers has tended t o provedi sast r ous t o the i ndi genous popul at i on-Li beri a of f eri ng a case i n poi nt 57 Theorgani zat i on s- and Garvey s- most posit i ve l egacy l i e s on the one hand, i n i t si nspi rati onal ef f ect upon t he post -Worl dWr I I generati on of Af ri can l eader shi pwhi ch, f ol l owng the war f ound i t s e l f i n aposi t i on t o t ransf orm t he desi re of Af ri canpol i t i cal i ndependence i nt o a r eal i t y On t heother hand, there i s t he equal l y unquanti -f i abl e but nonethel ess si gni f i cant and l asti ng i mpressi on whi ch Garveyi sm ent t o t he

cul t i vat i on of posi t i ve sel f - i mage amongpeopl es of Af ri can descent Garvey s ad-moni shment , Up you mghty race you canaccompl i sh what you w l l served as asource of i nspi rat i on not onl y t o bl ack f o l kof hi s own era but t o t hose of generati onshence 58

Pol i t i cal New Negro- i sm rode t he crest ofurban bl ack mgrati ons duri ng t he war as

wel l as the attendant prosperi ty ushered i nby the war economy I t was t hat rel at i veprosperi ty whi ch, f or exampl e, af f orded

ERNEST ALLEN J R

worki ng-cl ass bl acks the l uxury of bei ngabl e t o pump some 600, 000 i nt o Garvey ssadl y msmanaged Bl ack Star Li ne over aperi od of four or f i ve years By 1922 t hepost war r ecessi on had undermned the economc dream of the UN and eroded t hepol i t i cal st rength of t he uni on movementand hence the pol i t i cal base of the Soci al i stparty as wel l - whi ch had i gnored mostbl acks anyway 59 Huber t Harri son s Li bert yLeague of Negro-Ameri cans never real l y gotof f the ground, a vi cti m of i nt er nal di sputeswhi ch l ed t o a f at al spl i t i n i t s ranks TheCr usader organ of the Af ri can Bl oodBrotherhood, ceased publ i cati on wt h i t s

J anuary-February 1922 numbers By t hatt i me too The Messenger had begun t o r esembl e more and more a bl ack soci et y r agwth l i t t l e meani ngf ul t o say concerni ng po-l i t i ca l radi cal i sm I nto th is pol i t i cal vacuumrode t he cul t ur al New Negro, procl ai mng anewy di scovered tr uth that Ameri ca s r aci al probl em woul d be resol ved thoughbl ack a r t i s t i c expressi on

The di f f erence between t hi s cul t ural orientat i on to soci al quest i ons and that of NewNegro pol i t i cal radi cal s seeki ng redresswthi n t he Uni ted States was s t r i ki ng l I nthei r heyday, New Negro radi cal s hadsought t o modi f y Ameri can soci al rel at i onsdi rect l y and qual i ta t i vel y Thei r goal was anew economc and pol i t i cal order i n theUni ted States whi ch ai m woul d be achi evedt hrough t he pol i t i cal sol i dar i ty of the work-i ng cl ass bl ack and whi te I n contrast

cul tural New Negroes such as Al ai n Lockeand J ames Wl don J ohnson fe l t that onceconvi nced of the ar t i s t i c abi l i t i es of bl acksthe pol i t i cal sympathi es of the whi te mddl e-cl ass coul d be tapped From that wel lspri ng woul d f l ow the support f or an end t ocol or-coordi nated soci al i nequal i ty i nAmeri ca

Radi cal New Negroes hel d that wde-spread noti ons of al l eged bl ack genet i c

def i ci ency were a product of a soci al orderbased on economc i nequal i t y used bycapi tal i s ts t o di vi de and hence t o bett er


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Fi GUxE 15 Meta Warri ck Ful l er, Et hi opi a Awak-eni ng, 1917 Ful l er s scul pture was shown at NewYork s Maki ng of Ameri ca Exposi ti on Shewas ani mortant precursor as wel l as one of t he most i mportant art i st s of the Harl em Renai ssance whospent much of her a r t i s t i c energy on ant i sl averythemes duri ng t he 1910s and 1920s Arts and Ar-

t i f a c t s D vi s i o n, Schombur g Center f or Researchi n B ack Cul ture New York Pub i c Li brary,

Astor Lenoxand Ti l den Foundati ons

rul e, workers as a whol e Wth the overhaul -i ng of the soci al structure, erroneousnoti ons of whi te supremacy/ b ack i n-f er i or i t y woul d l ose t hei r f undamenta l yeconomc rai son d etre and ul t i matel y di s-appear on t hei r own Cul tura New Negroes,on t he other hand, ef f ec t i vel y vi ewed raci stnoti ons as the cause of b ack oppressi on asthe pri ncipa determnant of a r aci al l y di -vi ded soci al structure Shatter the cl ai m of

i nf er i or i t y w th i ndi sputabl e evi dence ofb ack i ntel l ectual pari t y, and Af ri can Amer-i can soci al equal i ty was cert ai n t o f ol l ow

THE NEW NEGRO 6 3

J ames Wel don J ohnson undoubtedl y spokef or t he ma ori ty of Harl em Renai ssancepromoters when he st ated, rather i de-al i st i cal l y, i n 1921 that the status of t heNegro i n the Uni ted States i s mor e a ques-t i on of nati ona menta at t i t ude toward t herace than of act ual condi ti ons nd nothi ngwi l l do mor e t o change that menta at t i t udeand rai se hi s status than a demonstrati on ofi ntel l ectual pari ty of the Negro through theproducti on of l i terature and art sa

Despi te genera agreement, t he mor e det ai l ed soci al and ar t i s t i c vi ews of cul t uralNew Negroes proved no more homogeneousthan those of t hei r mor e p o l i t i c a l l y ori ented

progeni tors Paradoxi ca l y, many- l i keLangston Hughes, Al ai n Locke, J J ohnson, and others- woul d procl ai m thevi rt ues of cl i mbi ng the raci al mountai n,yet s t i l l be commtted t o the l ong- termassi ml at i on of bl acks i n t o Ameri can soci et yOthers l i k e staunch y assi ml at i oni st-ori ented c r i t i c George Schuyl er, who deni edthe very exi stence of any uni que y bl ack ar-t i s t i c expressi on woul d see no need f or any

i ntermedi ate st age of cul t ural nat i onal i s texpressi on Fi nal l y, asi de f rom the ever-present questi on of soci al i denti ty, t herewas agai n and al ways that of soci al j ust i ce

One one si de were part i sans such as J amesWel don J ohnson who, a ong w th u Boi s,saw no f undamenta contradi cti on betweenpr opaganda and art From hi s perspecti veprotest was seen, i n fact , as one of the mostva uab e comonents of b ack ar t i s t i c ex

pressi on On the other were those such asAl ai n Locke and Charl es S J ohnson, det er -mned t o wrest b ack ar t i s t i c expressi onf rom t he eml oy of propaganda- that i s , t oost ensi bl y remove ar t i st r y f rom t he eml oyof pol i t i cs and t o concentrate mor e on questi ons of craft and f orm The truth, however,was that b ack art was t o be pl aced i n t heservi ce of a qui eter pol i t i cal movement t hatvi ewed l ong- termmediati on and educati on

as t he sol ut i ont o t he Negro prob em

Nove though such an approach may have

appeared at the t i me, i t was i n essence the


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64

sol ut i on to the race probl em proposedsome ni net een years earl i er by E. B u

Boi s i n The Soul s of Bl ack Fol k, whose ownpanacea was t hat of educat i on ~

Much mor e pol i ti cal l y conservat i ve i ngeneral t han thei r f i rst- wave count erpart s,

cul tural New Negroes rode the hegemni c

1 Les l i e Fi shbei n, Rebel s i n Bohema : TheRad cal s of The Masses, 1911- 1917 Chapel H l lUni versi ty of North Carol i na Press, 1982 , 30See al so Art hur Frank Wert hei m The New YorkL i t t l e Renai ssance : I conocl asm Moderni sm andNati onal i sm i n Amri can Cul ture, 1908- 1917 New York : New York Uni versi ty Press, 1976

2 On t h i s subj ect see Theodore Kornwei bel ,J r No Crystal Stai r : B ack Life and t he

Messenger, 1917- 1928 West port , Conn : Greenwood, 1975 , 105-131 ; Kornwei bel , Theophi l usLew s and the Theater of the Harl em Renai s-sance, i n Arna Bont emps, ed , The Harl emRenai ssance Remember ed Essays Wth a Memi r NewYork : Dodd, Mead, 1972 , 171-189

3 Federal uni ons were l ocal uni ons f orwhi ch a charter was di rec t l y granted by the na-t i onal body of the AF of L I n general t h i s wasf or exped ency, i n i nstances where a group ofs k i l l e d workers wanted t o uni oni ze, but where a

nati onal uni on f or that part i cul ar craf t d dnotexi st I f and when such a nati onal uni on cami n t o bei ng F of L headquarters woul d di ssol vethe f ederal charter, and cede j ur i s di c t i on overthat l ocal to t s nat i onal uni on Wen deal i ngw th bl ack workers, however, the f ormti on off ederal uni ons becam st andard pol i cy, and bl ackworkers were not usual l y al l owed t o j oi n the na-t i onal uni ons where thei r r espect i ve cra f t s wererepresented

4 August Mei er, Negro Thought i n Amr-

i ca, 1880- 1915: Raci al

I deol ogi es i n t he Age ofBooker T Washi ngt on Ann Arbor : Uni versi tyof Mchi gan Press, 1963 165-170

5 Bernard C Nal ty, Strength f or the Fi ght :

ERNEST ALLEN J R

NOTES

crest unt i l the economy bot t omd out i n theearl y thi rti es They wou d be supp ant ed bya movement that was as st rong on soci al pro-test as had been the soci al i stori ented NewNegroes, but much weaker on the quest i onofAf ri can Ameri can soci al i dent i ty than hadbeen thei r mor e nati onal i stori ented coun-t erpart s of the t eens and earl y twent i es

Hstory of Bl ack Amri cans i n t he Ml i tary New York : Free Press, 1986 112

6 Phi l i p Randol ph, A New Crowd-ANew Negro, Messenger May- J une 1919) : 27

7 Messenger J ul y 1923) : 757 See al soPaul a G dd ngs, Wen and Where I Enter : TheI mpact of Bl ack Wmen on Race and Sex i nAmri ca New York : Bant am 1985 , 193-196

8 El ai ne Showal ter, ed These Modern

Wmen Autobi ogrphi cal Essays f rom theTwenti es New York : Femni st Press, 1989 , 4

9 El i s e J ohnson McDougal d, The NegroWman Teacher and the Negro Student , Mes-senger J ul y 1923 : 770

10 Rut h Whi t ehead Whal ey, C osedDoors : A St udy i n Segregati on, Messenger J ul y 1923 : 772

11 Harry Haywood, Negro Li berati on New York : I nternat i onal Publ i shers, 1948) , 170

12 August Mei er, Negro Thought i n Amr-

i ca, 165, 184 C Van Woodward, The StrangeCareer of J i m Cow New York : Oxf ord Uni ver-s i t y Press, 1974) , 91- 93

13 See, f or examp e, Domngo, Pri -vate Propert y as a P i l l a r of Prej ud ce,Messenger Apri l - May 1920) : 9- 10 ; August1920) : 69- 71

14 I n the years pr i or t o hi s j oi ni ng theCommni st part y, Bri ggs vaci l l ated betweenca l l s f or a geographi cal l y based bl ack sel fdetermnat i on both w thi n and external t o t he

Uni ted States, on the one hand, and a uni f i edstruggl e f or soci al i sm n whi ch bl acks woul d pl aya r o l e

15 Mani f este de 1 I nt ernat i onal e Com


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muni st e aux prol et ai res du monde ent i er , i nMani f est es, t heses et resol ut i ons des quatres pre-mers congres mond aux de l i nternati onal ecommuni ste 1919-1923 Pari s Bi bl i othequeCommuni st e, 1934) , 32 ; f acs i m l e edi t i on

repri nted by Frango s Maspero Pari s 1970) Author s i ntervi ew w th R chard B Moore, 1978Later generati ons of col oni al peop es woul dcont est the establ i shed order of pr i or i t y betweent he two st r uggl es, but that was not the questi onhere I n cont rast t o the more conservati ve posi -ti ons of t he Second I nt ernat i onal , what was ofnot e was that col oni al sl aves were consi deredworthy of t he Comntern s pol i ti cal at tent i on

16 Act i vi t i es of the League of DarkerPeop e were noted i n the New York Age 11

J anuar y 1919 ) ;Revo ut i onaryRad cal i sm Repor t of the J oi nt Legi sl at i ve Commt tee of NewYork I nvesti gati ng Sed ti ous Acti vi t i es, vol . 2(A bany, N Y J B Lyon,1920) , 1517

17 Bi ographi cal i nf ormati on on Har r i soni s taken f rom J Rogers, Wor l d s Great Men ofCol or, vol 2 ( 1946-1947 ; rpt New Yor k Macmll an, 1972) , 611-619 ; and Phi l i p Foner, Ameri canSoci al i sm and Bl ack Ameri cans Westport ,Conn Greenwood, 1977) , 207- 218 Rogers i ncor-rectl y reports that Harr i son was an edi t or of t he

Negro Wor l d f or f our years Actual l y, he servedthere i n vari ous edi tori al capaci t i es f r om anuar y1920 t o March 1922 See al so J ef f rey Perry, Hubert Henry Harri son, `The Father of Har l emRad cal i sm The Ear l y Year s- 1883 Thr oughthe Found ng of the Li berty Leagueand The Vo cei n 1917 Ph D di ss . , Col umbi a Uni versi ty, 1986 ,whi ch i s the def i ni t i ve source on the subj ectthrough 1917

18 Perry, Huber t Henry Harri son, 371- 372

19 Huber t Harri son, Soci al i sm and theNegro, i n Harri son, The Negro and t he Nat i on

( New Yor k Cosmo Advocate, 1917) , 21- 22 ;ori gi nal i n I nternat i onal Soci al i st Revi ew (J ul y1912) Compar e w th Eugene Debs, The Negroi n the C ass Struggl e, I nternati onal Soci al i stRevi ew (1903) ; repri nted i n Eugene V DebsSpeaks New Yor k Pathf i nder Press , 1970) ,90-95

20 Harri son, Soci al i sm and the Negr o, 22, 24, 22-23

21 I bi d , 27-2822 Huber t Harri son, Wen Af ri ca Awakes

New Yor k Porro Press, 1920) , 7-823 J ervi s Anderson, Phi l i p Randol ph :

THE NEW NEGRO 65

Bi ographi cal Port rai t New Yor k HarcourtBrace J ovanovi ch, 1973) , 76

24 See Foner , Ameri can Soci al i sm andBl ack Ameri cans, 211

25 Anderson, Phi l i p Rando ph, 9426 Hol man s l abors-essent i al t o the suc-

cess of Soci al i st party el ector al campai gns i nthese d str i cts-do not seem to have been l i mtedt o i mmgrant s of West I nd an ext racti on BothHol man and Eml y J ones, descr i bed as bl ackf emal e soci al i st organi zers, parti ci pated i nSoci al i st par ty el ectoral act i vi t i es i n Har l em hatfall . Mnut es of Execut i ve Commt tee of LocalNew York, 6 Februar y 1918 ; New York Cal l 4November 1918)

27 Randol ph i nf or med t he executi ve com

mtt ee that a number of Negroes there wereanxi ous to f or m such a branch, t o whi ch effor tsthe commttee deci ded t o donate f i f t een dol l arsmonthl y But i n contr ast t o the 21st AD f ew po-l i t i c a l acti vi t i es among bl acks i n the 19th wereever reported i n the Soci al i st press Mnutes ofExecut i ve Commt t ee of Local New York, 27Feb-ruary 1918 Owen was draf ted i n l ate August , andthus mssed the most i mpor tant peri od of campai gni ng Mnut es of Execut i ve Commt tee ofLocal New York, 4 September 1918

28 New Yor k Cal l 4 November 1918) ; Re-port of New Yor k C ty Board of El ecti ons, 31December 1918

29 Cf Karl Marx, The Poverty of Phi l oso-phy (1847 ; rpt Moscow Forei gn LanguagesPubl i shi ng House, n . d . , 165-166

30 Cf . E l l i o t M Rudw ck, Rce R ot at EastSt Loui s, J ul y 2, 1917 (1964 ; rpt Ur bana Uni -versi ty of I l l i noi s Press, 1982) ; Wl l i am Tutt l e,Race R ot : Chi cago i n the Red Summer of 1919 New Yor k Atheneum 1970

31

Cf

Char l es

Wesl ey, Negr o Labor i nthe Uni ted States, 1850-1925 ( New Yor k Van-guard Press, 1927) ; Sterl i ng Spero and bramHarri s, The Bl ack Worker ( New Yor k Co umbi aUni versi ty Press, 1932)

32 Eugene Debs, The Negro i n t he Cl assStruggl e, I nternati onal Soci al i st Revi ew 4( November 1903) 260 ; repri nted i n Eugene VDebs Speaks, 95

33 Messenger ( November 1917) 3334 Harri son, Wen Af ri ca Awakes, 87

Harr i son mst akenl y pl acedthe year of thedebate as 1918 J ef f rey Perry, Harri son s bi ogra

pher, states that Harri son s i deas on race f i r s temer ged duri ng a seri es of outdoor and i ndoor


19/21


20/21

wrote f a i r l y regul ar l y f or the New YorkAmt er dam News Harri son, When Ar i caAwakes, 9- 10 E Davi d Cronon, B ack Moses :The St ory of Mar cus Garvey and the Uni versalNegro I mprovemnt Associ at i on (Mad son : Uni -

versi ty of Wsconsi n Press, 1955) , 76-77 ; hereG ey s name i s msspel l ed Gray Report s ofAgent P- 138, 26 August 1921, BS 202600-2031-9 ;6 August 1921, BS 202600-667-76 ; Edgar M Gr eyt o Uni t ed States Depar t mnt of State, 8 August1919 ; L Lamar Wndow [Wnst on ~ ] Depar t -mnt of State, t o Fr ank Burke, Bureau ofI nvesti gat i on, l 3 August 1919, OG 258421, NAmt er damNews 17 NoveYnber 1926) ; Mes-senger (March 1923) : 640 Harri son, who does notseem o have been aware of the i ntel l i gence con-

necti ons of hi s organi zat i onal secretary, had notl ost hi s ear l i er pro-Lef t symathi es Several

weeks earl i er he part i ci pated i n a May Daycel ebr at i on at t he Peopl es Educat i onal ForumRad cal Acti vi t i es, 7 May 1921, BS 2026001628-20, DNA

45 Repor t of Agent P-138, 13 J ul y 1921, BS202600-2031-6 St okes was schedul ed t o appear atthe Peopl es Educat i onal Forum on 29 May, butdi d not . Report of Agent P- 138, 31 May 1921, BS198940-145, N

46 From Mart i n Luther Cambel l , Soci al -i s t party and ABB mmer, and owner of a t ai l orshop on 135t h Street, an undercover agent ext rac

ted the i nf ormt i on that by J ul y there were t wof ul l - f l edged bl ack CP mmers f unct i oni ng i nHar l em Campbel l decl i ned to mnt i on t hembynam, but i m i ed that one mght be Ri chard BMoor e . I n hi s 1958 cor respondence w th Theo-dore Daper , Cyri l Bri ggs mnt i oned OttoHui swoud and one Hendr i cks [uni dent i f i ed ] ashavi ng al ready been par ty mmers when he en-

tered the organi zat i on i n 1921 Si nce avai l abl ei ntel l i gence sources mnt i on nei ther of t hemamong those who f requent edCambel l s shop, i tappears safe t o concl ude that they were not thepersons Campbel l had i n mnd

47 See Theodore Vi ncent , B ack Power andt he Gar vey Movemnt (Berkel ey : Rampar t sPress, 1971) 81-82

48 . The very f i r s t mnt i on of t he A ri canB ood Brotherhood i n the Crusader occurs i n anadvert i semnt appear i ng i n the Oct ober 1919

number . For f urther detai l s on the ABB see Burghar dt Turner and J oyce Moor e Turner ,

eds . Ri char d B Moor e, Cari bbean M l i t ant i n

THE NEW NEGRO s7

Har l em Col l ected Wi t i ngs 1920-1972 (B oomi ngton : I nd ana Uni versi ty Press, 1988) ,especi al l y chaps 1 and 2

49 Ar t hur Preuss, Dct i onary of Secretand Ot her Soci et i es (St . Loui s, Mo : B Her der

Book Co 1924), 47 ; Reproduced i n Rober t AHi l l , I nt roducti on, The Crusader New York :Garl and Pub 1987), l xvi i - l xx

50 Crusader J une 1920) : 751 Domngo ci ted i n E. B. Du Boi s, Back

t o Ari ca, Cent ury 105 (February 1923) : 54352 Here I may be gui l ty of bri ngi ng mr e

coherence to a UN A economc pol i cy that wasmre sl ogani zed t han caref ul l y thought out .

53 The UN A has oft en been cal l ed a Back- to-A ri ca mvemnt , and schol ars and

c r i t i c s even t oday cont i nue to debate whet herGarvey s i ntent was a whol esal e r et urn ofA ro-Amr i cans to the A ri can cont i nent or si mpl y the t ransport i ng there of a rel at i vel y smal lnumer of bl acks w t h s k i l l s suf f i ci ent t o trans-f orm the establ i shed UN A col ony i nt o acornerstone f or A ri can pol i t i cal soverei gnty .The hi stori cal record i n fact support s both i nter-pr et at i ons, and i t may be l ess rel evant to seek out what Garvey real l y t hought on the mt ter ofA ri can Amr i can expat r i at i on-a goal that be-

coms cl oud er as each new pi ece of hi stori calevi dence i s added- than i t i s t o understand thepol i t i cal opportuni sm the exped ent ci rcumstances that l ed M . Gar vey t o t ake one si de, t henthe other .

54 Negr o Worl d (19 Febr uar y 1921) : 355 Cronon, B ack Moses, 189 ; 109 I n an ac-

companyi ng note ostensi bl y si gned by the KuK ux K an, but whi ch coul d have been sent j us t aseasi l y by a UN A f anat i c or, f or that mat ter, anoperati ve of a d r ty t r i c ks di vi si on of govern-

mnt ) , Randol ph was war ned t o ei t her j o i n the ni gger i mprovemnt associ at i on or r i s k havi nghi s own hand sent to somone e l s e p 110

56 Cronon, B ack Moses ; Vi ncent , B ackPower and the Gar vey Movemnt ; Tony Mart i n,Race Fi rst The I deol ogi cal and Organi zati onalSt ruggl es of Mar cus Garvey and the Uni versalNegro I mprovemnt Associ at i on (Wstport ,Conn . : Greenwood Press, 1976) ; J ud t h St ei n,The Worl d of Mar cus Gar vey : Race and Cl ass i nModern Soci ety (Baton Rouge : Loui si ana State

Uni versi ty Press, 1986) .57 The f ound ng of the col ony of Li beri a i n1821 and i t s set t l emnt by bl ack Amri can f ormr


21/21

s s

sl aves the f ol l ow ng year resul ted i nthe pol i t i calsubj ugat i on of t he i ndi genous popul ati on of theregi on and the establ i shi ng of sl avery I t i s some-what s t ar t l i ng t o consi der that UNA success i nLi beri a woul d have meant the establ i shi ng of a

sett l er col ony w t h n a sett l er col ony58 Th s quote appeared promnent l y i n

every i ssue of The Negr o Wr l d59 See J ames Wi nstei n, The Decl i ne of So-

c i a l i s m i n Ameri ca, 1912- 1925 New Yor k :Monthl y Revi ew Press 1967)

60 The Li berator al so l ost momntum n

thi s per i od ; see Dani el Aaron, Wi ters on t heLef t : Epi sodes i n Ameri can Li terary Communi sm New Yor k : Harcour t , Brace and Wrl d,1961) 93

61 I ni t i al l y and especi al l y at thei r f i r s t i nt ernat i onal conventi on i n 1920 Garveyi tesexpressed great i nt erest i n f i ght i ng f or Af r i canAmer i can ri ghts w t h n the U S But af ter 1921t hi s demnd seem t o have got ten l ost i n thei r effo r t s t o secure the pol i t i cal and economci ndependence of the Af r i can cont i nent and as a

ERNEST ALLEN J R

resul t of hi s al i en pol i t i cal st at us i n Mar cusGarvey s apparent f ear of bei ng seen as a domes-t i c pol i t i cal threat t o U S aut hori t i es

62 I n practi cal term the mor e conservati veel ements w th n thi s pol i t i cal group, such as Ran-

dol ph and Owen of The Messenger , saw the newsoci al i st order emergi ng by means of the bal l otor par l i amentary route Those f urther t o the l e f tWl f red Domngo, f or i nst ance t ended t o seethi s taki ng pl ace through general s tr i kes i n t hemanner of the I WW combi ned w th cl andesti nepol i t i cal ac t i vi t y However , thi s r i ght / l ef t pol ari t y w t h n the smal l group of soci al i st ori entedNew Negr oes- mr r or i ng that w t h n the Soci ali s t par ty i n gener al - was obscured by t he factthat both w ngs embraced the WW n account of

i t s col or bl i nd uni on ac t i vi t i es 63 J ames Wl don J ohnson, ed The Book of

Ameri can Negr o Poetry 1922 ; rpt New Yor kHarcourt , Brace and Wrl d, 1959 9

64 E. B Du Boi s The Soul s o f B ack Fol k 1903 ; rpt New York : New Ameri can Li brary1969 278

The New Negro: Explorations in Identity and Social Consciousness, 1910-1922 • by Ernest Allen,...

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Transcript of The New Negro: Explorations in Identity and Social Consciousness, 1910-1922 • by Ernest Allen,...