“How the facts of American history have in the last half-century have been falsified because the nation was ashamed. The South was ashamed because it fought to perpetuate human slavery. The North was ashamed because it had to call in the black men to save the Union, abolish slavery, and establish democracy.” — W.E.B. DuBois
For the last few weeks, I have been listening to a podcast called Marx Madness. While the podcast is devoted to Marxist interpretations of history and politics, the podcast recently devoted multiple episodes to W.E.B. DuBois’ singular classic, Black Reconstruction in America commonly called Black Reconstruction.
In addition, a book club sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America has as its next discussion book, Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois. There are other mentions of the book everywhere now. In fact, Google “Black Reconstruction, Dubois,” and you will get 2.6 million hits.
In the era of book banning of books like Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Black Boy by Richard Wright, the banning books crowd is taking a big “L.”
Black Reconstruction is a forgotten book, dismissed by the defenders of America and white supremacy, and for decades after its appearance, it was really a conversation piece for progressive scholars, intellectuals, and street scribes. The poet, Amiri Baraka, whenever I spent time with him, always urged many of us young poets, to read, DuBois’ Black Reconstruction.
It is a highly popular book for those who want the whole truth, but also, an accurate truth from the perspective of the oppressed Africans who were supposed to receive a path to freedom, justice, and self-determination after the Civil War.
Instead, these American citizens got the same old American caste system, dressed up in Black Codes, Jim Crow, and white terror ignored by the state they fought and died for during the Civil War to end slavery and to secure their freedom as human beings.
Black Reconstruction is a dynamite book. It is probably the most important sociological history treatment of America’s racial nonsense since the end of the Civil War.
To hardcore bigots and perpetrators of racial eugenics theories, it probably felt like “Critical Race Theory” feels today because of how it successfully flipped the accepted racist narrative of the late 19th century and early 20th century on its head.
The book says emphatically that African Americans (Blacks) are human beings and they were on their way to succeeding in America but for the racial caste system that was imposed on them beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1877.
“No matter how degraded the factory hand, he is not real estate.”
So ask yourself: Why have you never read it?
Don’t feel bad. Go pick up a copy and read it. Join a book club and say — let’s read this one. Fortify yourself. Put America’s racist lies to bed.
Why is the book not more well known?
I suspect that this book presents the truth too openly. DuBois was an intellectual of high respect and hard work. He is considered by many to be America’s greatest intellectual and eventually, its greatest dissident.
The book also destroyed the morally decrepit work of many American historians who perpetuated the lie of racial inferiority for centuries.
Douglass Debevoise reviewed the book for The North American Review in 1935 and here is what he wrote in response to the book, in part:
“ No one will question the hideous wrong of slavery, but many are inclined to doubt the equality of all men. We have been led to regard the excesses, corruption and chaos of the Reconstruction period in the South as an example of what the negro, aided and led on by the unscrupulous carpetbagger from the North, did with his equality.”
Debevoise’s review reflects the historical lie seeking to hang on to life.
See, the central premise of Black Reconstruction is that African people in America are human beings and equality was a choice the country could have made. The country chose to plunder their African population. African people were never been treated equally as human beings (in America) and when they began to succeed during the Reconstruction period, it was quickly brought to an end.
Overall, the book was well received and was considered powerful at the time, mostly in the African America media. Here are some quotes from reviews:
P. Bernard Young, Jr. (Norfolk New Journal and Guide)
“Black Reconstruction…should be read by every by every teacher and student in America and any history teacher who does not make it required reading in its history course is not worth his salt.”
The Pittsburgh Courier’s review of the book describes it as DuBois’ best work, an effort that “surpasses all other efforts in research,” the paper writes.
J.J.W. Riesling describes the book in the Washington Post as “brilliant” and describes DuBois as a “poet… battling the world.”
Yet, the Christian Science Monitor, not surprisingly, seeks to undermine the book, calling DuBois, a “frustrated idealist.” The Monitor’s review is also full of the very same racist eugenics based beliefs that DuBois destroys in the book with facts.
DuBois’ book has been sitting on many shelves collecting dust since it was published 87 years ago. It is there for all of us.
He laid waste to the racist American narrative of most white historians. African Americans tried to make America a democracy; America went another way.
Black soldiers once President Lincoln armed them in the war, fought and won that war. Then, when African Americans were afforded their equal rights briefly, they succeeded and were on the move.
Sadly, the country could not handle it. The country didn’t think African Americans were/are equal to “white” Americans as human beings, and so, their rights were stripped away slowly and replaced with the Klan, Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and outright quasi-slavery again.
DuBois’ book laid out the American dilemma too. If America didn’t solve its racist-racial problem, he contemplated, the country was likely doomed to destruction.
Most days, it feels like we are at that crossroad right now and things are slowly falling apart.
What are you going to do, America?
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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