A. Philip Randolph and the Struggle for Civil Rights

4. Crossing the Color Line: Randolph's Transition from Race to Class Consciousness

4 Crossing the Color Line Randolph’s Transition from Race to Class Consciousness In some ways, campus life at the City College of New York (CCNY) in 1912–13 directly complemented aspects of the radical environment that Randolph found in Harlem. While Hubert Harrison, W.A. Domingo, and other black radicals were turning uptown street corners into open-air forums on racial discrimination, socialism, and the worldwide plight of people of color, CCNY students were organizing campus rallies to protest the spread of authoritarian governments in Europe and supporting textile strikes in Lawrence, Massachusetts (1912),and Patterson, New Jersey (1913),led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).1 The energy and vociferous support such activities generated on campus helped to familiarize Randolph with key Socialist Party figures like Eugene V. Debs and William “Big Bill” Haywood, who were both incredibly popular with CCNY students.2 When the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, an organization dedicated to promoting the study and advocacy of socialism among college students and faculty, established a chapter at CCNY, it helped to give even more order and regularity to oncampus socialist rallies and sustain the radical nature of campus politics during Randolph’s tenure.3 This dynamic campus activism largely complemented the radical discourse that permeated Harlem.4 Even as Harrison, Domingo, and others railed against racial injustice and exploitation, they spoke from the same radical lexicon as student demonstrators protesting militarism and unchecked capitalism. For Randolph this overlap placed class theory in a new light. Prior to enrolling at CCNY, his dealings with class had primarily revolved around study group discussions of its efficacy for African Americans.5 The 64 . class consciousness in the jazz age campus activism and radical politics that so animated CCNY’s student body served to elaborate further core aspects of class theory and give new shape to its practical application. Thus, despite the obvious racial and ethnic differences that separated campus life at CCNY from the black community that ultimately developed around it in Harlem, Randolph found important encouragement in both realms that promoted greater class consciousness.6 Randolph began taking evening classes at City College in 1912 through its Teachers’ Extension Program. Organized by the school’s Department of Education in 1908, the extension program provided continuing education classes to area teachers, offering a full slate of liberal arts and fine arts courses. Randolph’s initial course load was weighted heavily toward the performing arts. A young man intensely interested in Shakespeare, an interest further nurtured by a CCNY course he took in English literature, Randolph initially enrolled in drama and public speaking classes to hone his acting skills and polish his elocution. He quickly turned his attention to politics and economics , however, as he was drawn more deeply into the political life of the campus and became more active in Harlem’s radical circles. In fact, it was this academic transition that gave Randolph’s commitment to socialism new momentum. He dropped his drama and public speaking courses to enroll in history and economics classes. This slate of new subjects focused on the distinguishing features of European civilization with specific emphasis on the aims, principles, and history of socialism in Europe and the concrete problems associated with trade unionism. These new areas of study broadened his understanding of Marx, brought him into closer contact with student activists on campus, and propelled him toward the Socialist Party.7 Such courses were not always a part of City College’s curriculum, however . The College of the City of New York was founded in 1848 largely as a response to growing public pressure for free public education beyond the elementary level. As early as the 1830s, working-class New Yorkers as well as many of the city’s businessmen began to push for reforms that would expand educational opportunities and effectively equip students with practical business skills.8 However, the initial organization of this new municipal college, originally called the Free Academy, proceeded along very different lines. Its intention was to surpass its private counterparts by offering a curriculum that combined the practical studies and college preparation of the city’s established academies with the traditional classical studies offered at the time in most American colleges. Its first students took courses in mathematics, history, classic languages, chemistry, physics, and civil engineering.9 This basic curriculum remained in place until 1903, when CCNY underwent a crossing the color line · 65...