Carter Woodson
Carter Woodson was born after slavery had come to an end, but
both of his parents had been enslaved, and they valued his
education. Although unable to afford formal schooling as a
youth, he nevertheless applied himself to studying and
eventually earned a high school diploma by proxy in West
Virginia. He attended Berea college in Kentucky before and
earned a Bachelor’s degree being accepted into the University of
Chicago. He earned a Master’s degree at Chicago before being
accepted into Harvard University. There, he became the second
African-American to ever earn a doctorate in History. W.E.B.
DuBois had been the first. Woodson worked as a teacher in the
public schools of Washington D.C. before publishing his
dissertation and becoming a member of the faculty at Howard
University. While living in Washington, D.C. he worked with the
local NAACP branch for several years; but eventually quit the
organization because he found them to shrink from
confrontation with white authority figures. Woodson sought a
more radical stance, which would boycott businesses that
engaged in racist practices or enforced segregation. Woodson
began “Black History Month” humbly – it was called Negro
History Week for many, many years. He chose February for the
celebratory week, largely because it was the birth week of both
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In the 1970s, the
celebration was expanded to Black History Month.
The Tulsa Riot of 1921
The Tulsa Riot of 1921
Tulsa’s Greenwood section – an AfricanAmerican community which was
known as “Black Wall Street” by some –
was one of the most thriving and
prosperous African-American
communities in America during years
following the First World War. It had
competing grocery stores and movie
theatres, a public transportation
system, and an entrepreneurial spirit
which had resulted in many well of
residents. The community also
consisted of diverse churches. Many of
the men in the community had served
in the American Expeditionary Force
during the Great War, and came home
with the expectation that their service
would be acknowledged, and that they
and future generations would be better
treated and respected than former
generations of African-Americans.
The Tulsa Riot of 1921
The Tulsa Riot started in 1921 innocently enough. A young shoeshine boy named Dick Rowland stepped onto an elevator so that
he could use the restroom. In the segregated part of the town he
was working, the only restroom available for African-Americans
was at the top floor of a nearby building. When he stepped in,
one of two things happened. Either Rowland stepped on the foot
of a girl named Sarah Page, or he brushed his hand on her behind.
Accounts differ, and Page never pressed any charges regarding
the matter. Some claim that the girl screamed out, others claim
that another person in the elevator intervened first; but this
much is certain. Dick Rowland was arrested, and taken to the
local jail that day. By the afternoon, word was out that a black
man had assaulted a white girl. The local newspaper advertised
his location, and a lynch mob was organized directly.
The Tulsa Riot of 1921
When the word got out that Dick Rowland was to be lynched, a group of AfricanAmerican men were sent to the prison in order to protect Rowland. There
expectation was that Rowland should get a fair trial; however, they were also
determined to prevent a lynching, and brought their guns. When the mob of
whites who came to remove Rowland from prison and put him to death refused to
leave the prison, shots were fired. Both whites and blacks were killed and injured.
Over the next three days, the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma became a virtual war zone.
Fires were set in the Greenwood district of the city, and the firefighters who came
to put out the flames were attacked. Men and women were murdered on the
street arbitrarily. Church arsons took place. At one point, reports from the
Chicago Defender indicate that a crop-duster was used to drop dynamite on the
black neighborhoods of Tulsa, and the incendiary fires resulting killed dozens
more. Although newspapers accounts from the period confirmed near one
hundred deaths, rumors of a mass grave containing at least three times that
number of African-Americans have persisted to the present. The Oklahoma state
militia opened up machine gun fire on a handful of African-Americans who
refused to lay down their arms during the third day of the fighting, ending the riot.
Between two and three thousand African-Americans who had lived in Tulsa would
never appear on the city’s census reports again. It is presumed that the vast
majority of these people simply left the destroyed city and vowed never to return.
However, with so many African-Americans unaccounted for in the city, the
plausibility of a higher number of deaths is certainly not able to be ruled out.
Langston Hughes of the
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a
blossoming of African-American culture
during the 1920s which took place in the
New York neighborhood from which the
movement gets its name. Writers like
Countee Cullen, Zora Neal Hurston, and
James Weldon Johnson all gained
recognition for their works, which spent
more time celebrating the virtues of
African American culture than they did
lamenting the legacy of slavery and
oppression in the United States. But of all
these writers, the author and poet
Langston Hughes distinguished himself as
the most influential. His career was long
and he was a prolific writers. His most
famous works are probably, “I, Too Dream
America” and “Dream Deferred.”
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where
Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand
I came To build a "homeland of the free.“
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine—the poor man's,
Indian's, Negro's, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
“Let America Be America Again,”
by Langston Hughes
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again, America!
O, yes, I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again
Josh Gibson of the Negro Leagues
Everyone knows about Jackie Robinson, number 42, who
integrated Major League Baseball in 1947 by joining the
Brooklyn Dodgers. His role should not be
underestimated as a contribution to greater equality in
America. In fact, the sports world itself – the ultimate
meritocracy – has always capture American attentions.
But for many, many years, segregated sports worlds
existed simultaneously. Major League Baseball forbid
African-Americans to play, by “gentleman’s agreement”
until the 1940s; meaning that some of the greatest
baseball players in American history never had the
opportunity to play against one another. Today, then, we
consider the career of Josh Gibson, who played in the
Negro Leagues. He was known as the black Babe Ruth;
many, however, called Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson.
Since statistics were not kept for many Negro League
contests, Gibson’s overall numbers are in doubt; the
contention that he hit between 800 and 900 homeruns
during career is often put forth. If he did, he would have
been the greatest homerun hitter in all baseball history.
Gibson played ball in the United States, Mexico, and the
Dominican Republic during his career.
Josh Gibson
An apocryphal account from the
Wikipedia page:
“In the last of the ninth at
Pittsburgh, down a run, with a
runner on base and two outs,
Gibson hits one high and deep, so
far into the twilight sky that it
disappears from sight, apparently
winning the game. The next day,
the same two teams are playing
again, now in Washington. Just as
the teams have positioned
themselves on the field, a ball
comes falling out of the sky and a
Washington outfielder grabs it.
The umpire yells to Gibson, "You're
out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday!”
The Freedom Riders
In May of 1960, the law already stated
the discrimination along interstate
highway systems or the bus depots,
motels, and restaurants that served
them was illegal. In the summer of
1960, a group of white and black
students led by James Farmer of CORE
– the Congress of Racial Equality –
attempted to test these laws. For their
troubles, they were attacked,
assaulted, firebombed, and eventually
imprisoned by the state of Mississippi,
before Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy intervened to help them
make their way to their destination,
New Orleans. Although they
attempted to take busses the entire
way to New Orleans, they eventually
were forced to compromise and flight
the last portion of the journey, from
Jackson, MS to New Orleans.
The Freedom Riders
Attacked in Anniston, Alabama, the Freedom Riders almost lost their lives
when their bus was halted and firebombed along an interstate in Alabama.
Jim Zwerg and John Lewis of the
Freedom Riders, Summer 1960
John Lewis stands near his friend Jim Zwerg, who had just taken a savage beating from
white supremacists bend on ending the Freedom Rides of 1960. Lewis was eventually
arrested for failure to comply with police orders. Instead of paying the fine for the
offense, Lewis chose to go to jail, fearlessly, figuring that Mississippi would lose out.
The Detroit Riots of 1943
The Detroit Riots of 1943
Many thousands of African-Americans chose to leave the South and
take jobs in the military industrial complex during World War II.
When they arrived in Northern cities, they often encountered
segregation and racist hostilities, and no where was this more
evident than in Detroit. In the middle of World War II, most
American automobile manufacturers had completely converted their
assembly lines to generate war materials: jeeps, tanks, airplanes,
amphibious vehicles, and weaponry. African-Americans took some
of the most dangerous jobs in this field, hoping to achieve what they
called the “Double V” for victory. All Americans tended to flash a “V”
to one another during this period, signifying victory over the Axis
Powers. But for African-Americans, the “Double V” signified victory
over fascism abroad and victory over segregation and discrimination
at home! When African-Americans protested unfair treatment by
the white citizens of Detroit and business owners, violence erupted.
The Detroit Riots
The Double V was intended to
mean victory against Hitler abroad
and victory against racism at home.
Never was the need for a double
victory more apparent than when a
massive race riot took place in
Detroit in the middle of the war.
When 50,000 African Americans
moved into the city of under
300,000 mostly white residents,
racism reared it’s ugly head. Over
the course of three days that
summer, 34 people were killed –
including 25 African-Americans,
most of whom were killed by police
officers.
The Detroit Riots of 1943 –
Political Cartoon Commentary
Actor and Activist Paul Robeson
The actor Paul Robeson was graduate of Rutgers
University in New Jersey, and later attended graduated
law school at Columbia. But he would not go on to be a
lawyer. Robeson was more devoted to the stage, and
dedicated his life to performance. He was both a singer
and an actor, playing Othello in one of the longest running
stage productions of the Shakespeare play, while starring
in many feature films for both white and black audiences.
Paul Robeson, though, was more than just an actor. He
was also a voice for oppressed people around the globe.
He was a leader of the so-called “Double V” campaign for
African Americans – demanding victory over Hitler
abroad and over racism and segregation at home.
Robeson had always opposed fascism, speaking out
against Hitler as early as the 1930s during the Spanish
Civil War. But he also railed against colonialism, and
supported the Pan-African movement of the 1950s,
organizations which openly sympathized with
communists. Robeson’s support for communist tactics in
this regard got him blacklisted in Hollywood. During he
height of the “Red Scare” any actor or actress labeled as
pro-communist found it impossible to find work.
Robeson – who was an internationally famous man – also
had his passport revoked, preventing him from working
abroad. In spite of all this, Robeson remained a leading
voice for social justice in America throughout the Civil
Rights Movement.
Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was a member of the United
States Army during World War II, and
participated in the invasion of Normandy
during 1944. When he came home from
serving his nation, however, he was not
even able to vote in his home state of
Mississippi. Evers used the GI Bill to attend
school at Alcorn State University in
Mississippi, where he studied business
administration. He used his skills as an
organizer and leader of men, however, to
fight for greater social justice. After the
Supreme Court ruling in Brown V. Board of
Education, Topeka, KS, Evers was devoted
to the long process of desegregation in his
home state. He soon became the first
NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People) field
marshal in the state of Mississippi, a
position which brought him much fame, but
also exposed him to much danger.
Medgar Evers, NAACP
In Mississippi in 1955, a young man named Emmett Till was murdered
in the town of Money, Mississippi by two white men. His crime? He had
said the words, “Bye, baby!” to a white woman keeping shop in the local
candy store. He was dragged out of his home in the middle of the night,
shot to death, and then tied to a large metal rotor, where his body sank
to the bottom of a nearby river. An all white jury acquitted the men who
committed the crime. But during the trial, it was Medgar Evers who
organized the black community to testify against the criminals, and it
was he who snuck them out of town after they had testified, so they
would not be killed. Evers attempted to keep constant media pressure
on racist organizations in the South. Evers played a key role in insisting
that the Brown V. Board of Education decision was enforced in
Mississippi. When James Meredith attempted to integrate the
University of Mississippi – Ole’ Miss – in 1962, it was Evers who
organized the NAACP lawsuit and Evers who insisted that he receive
protection. By the early 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was at full
force. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was won. Central High School in
Little Rock, Arkansas was integrated. The Freedom Riders had made
their historic attempt to integrate the interstate highway system, and
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had founded the SCLC and started
non-violent confrontational tactics in Birmingham, AL. Evers had begun
agitating for greater voter registration for African-Americans in
Mississippi. It was in the summer of 1963 that Evers was gunned down
in his own driveway after returning from work. The man who
murdered him, Byron de la Beckwith, was never punished. When he
died, he was wearing a t-shirt that read “Jim Crow Must Go.”
Victor Hugo Green’s
Green Book
Prior to the Supreme Court’s Brown V. Board of
Education decision, discrimination against
African-Americans was legal. AfricanAmerican travelers along the United States
interstates and highways never knew where
strict segregation laws might prevent them
from entering a restaurant or finding a hotel
room. Hence, the need for Victor Hugo Green’s
publication, The Green Book. In the publication,
hotels, motels, and restaurants which were
known to accept African-American customers
and lodgers were listed – all across the country.
Many African-American travelers relied upon
the publication in order to travel safely.
Thurgood Marshall
Before Thurgood Marshall was the first
African-American to sit on the
Supreme Court of the United States, he
was prankster of a student at Lincoln
University in Pennsylvania, where he
was twice suspended for his boorish
behavior. He decided to pursue the
law during his college years, earned his
law degree from Howard University,
where he was much influenced by the
great Charles Hamilton Houston. After
college returned to his native
Baltimore, where he took up work with
the local NAACP. Still under Houston’s
tutelage, he would become on of the
most influential lawyers before the
Supreme Court in all American history.
Thurgood Marshall, Brown V.
Board of Education, Topeka, KS
In 1954, Thurgood
successfully argued the
Brown V. Board of
Education, Topeka, KS
case, winning the
integration of all public
schools in the United
States, “with all deliberate
speed.” The ruling would
have longstanding
implications across the
United States of America.
Marshall’s reputation was
established.
Thurgood Marshall and
Affirmative Action
In the 1960s, Lyndon Baines
Johnson selected Thurgood
Marshall as the first ever AfricanAmerican Supreme Court justice.
His interpretation of the
Constitution as a “living document”
– and one which had been deeply
flawed upon ratification – brought
a unique and new perspective to
the Supreme Court. Thurgood
Marshall was a strong advocate for
minority rights, women’s rights,
the rights of the accused, and
affirmative action while he was in
office. When he decided to retire
from the bench in the 1990s,
George H.W. Bush replaced him on
the Court with Clarence Thomas, a
man who shares virtually none of
Marshall’s views and rarely
comments on any of his decisions
with the Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall’s Bicentennial Speech
I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find
the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the
government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social
transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and
human rights, we hold as fundamental today. When contemporary Americans cite "The Constitution," they invoke a
concept that is vastly different from what the Framers barely began to construct two centuries ago.
For a sense of the evolving nature of the Constitution we need look no further than the first three words of the
document's preamble: 'We the People." When the Founding Fathers used this phrase in 1787, they did not have in mind
the majority of America's citizens. "We the People" included, in the words of the Framers, "the whole Number of free
Persons." On a matter so basic as the right to vote, for example, Negro slaves were excluded, although they were
counted for representational purposes at three-fifths each. Women did not gain the right to vote for over a hundred and
thirty years.
These omissions were intentional. The record of the Framers' debates on the slave question is especially clear: The
Southern States acceded to the demands of the New England States for giving Congress broad power to regulate
commerce, in exchange for the right to continue the slave trade. The economic interests of the regions coalesced: New
Englanders engaged in the "carrying trade" would profit from transporting slaves from Africa as well as goods produced
in America by slave labor. The perpetuation of slavery ensured the primary source of wealth in the Southern States.
Despite this clear understanding of the role slavery would play in the new republic, use of the words "slaves" and
"slavery" was carefully avoided in the original document. Political representation in the lower House of Congress was to
be based on the population of "free Persons" in each State, plus three-fifths of all "other Persons." Moral principles
against slavery, for those who had them, were compromised, with no explanation of the conflicting principles for which
the American Revolutionary War had ostensibly been fought: the self-evident truths "that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness."