Negro Social and Political Thought, 1850-1920: Representative Texts (review)

BOOK REVIEWS85 tween the two programs for Indian reform is that they both favored the assimilation of the American Indian and it soon becomes apparent that Fritz has not defined what he means by assimilation. The Peace Policy advocates hoped to civilize the Indian by exposing him to the influences of Christianity and its value system, while the advocates of the Dawes Act placed their faith in secular education and the discipline of agriculture. We have only Professor Fritz's word for it that the two reform programs were related. The University of Pennsylvania Press deserves no kudos for its craftsmanship . The book is unattractive, its styling is unimaginative, and editorial assistance appears to have been lacking. Lawrence C. Kelly Indiana University, Fort Wayne Negro Social and Political Thought, 1850-1920: Representative Texts. Edited by Howard Brotz. (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1966. Pp. ix, 593. $12.50.) Holding tiiat the overarching question in Negro thought has been whether prejudice would keep the colored people from ever being assimilated into the body politic, Professor Brotz here presents a compilation of opposing viewpoints. Those who favored some form of separatism, be it emigration, cultural nationalism or political nationalism, are listed as Martin R. Delany, Edward W. Blyden, James T. Holly, Alexander Crummell, W. E. B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. The roster of those favoring assimilation embrace names of equal note: Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, T. Thomas Fortune, Booker T. Washington and Archibald H. Grimke. The explanation given for the time span 1850 to 1920 is that the separatist voice grew in volume in the decade immediately preceding the Civil War, dien yielded to the assimilationist approach, only to re-emerge, however briefly, during the first quarter of the new century. The impact of these writings is considerable. Negro theoreticians are less likely to be known than Negro activists, and hence Brotz is to be commended for making such a rich body of materials readily available. Negroes speaking for themselves have been no novelty, but to get someone to listen has been another matter. Much of what tiiese writers say is worth hearing. Indeed in a country which limited a minority's economic and political power but which permitted freedom of expression, we are likely to have some of the best minds in the group turning to the literature of polemics. Just as these writers differed in viewpoint, so they differed in style and presentation. The passages from the widely traveled explorer, Delany, were typically far-ranging, embracing Bible commentary, the class structure in Europe, and little lessons on the geography of Africa. The theologically trained Crummell wrote with a serenity and rectitude that mirrored die man. In more impassioned tones we have the eloquent DuBois, who had read Virgil and Homer as a student, advocating Greek and Latin for the "tal- 86CIVIL WAR HISTORY ented tenth." Another contributor, Marcus Garvey, spoke only the mother tongue, but he did so without equivocation: "Has white America really considered the Negro in the light of permanent human progress? The answer is NO." These writers share some things in common, among them a penchant for social criticism and exhortation. There is an ever-present tendency toward self-scrutiny, often sharply toned, suggesting that for the Negro there has been no escaping the problem of his identity and role in the land of his birth. These readings also convey something of the Negro's confrontation with America, an encounter whose deferment is not as easy now as then. A book of readings seems especially to invite reviewer contrariness, if the following lines require no better reason. Brotz's inclusion of Edward Blyden needs explaining. Bom in the West Indies, Blyden's longest stay in the United States was seven months in 1850, when he was only eighteen, and his writings appeared in quarterlies having little circulation among Negroes. Bishop Henry M. Turner might have been a more defensible choice as emigrationist. A spot somewhere might have been found for the respected and widely published Howard University dean, Kelly Miller. Many of the writers do not fit neatly into the categories Brotz has for them. Gamet is listed as an assimilationist, yet at one time he...