Black separatism
Encyclopedia
Black separatism is a movement to create separate institutions for people of Africa
n descent in societies historically dominated by whites
, particularly in the United States
. Black separatists also often seek a separate homeland. Black separatists generally think that black people cannot advance in a society dominated by a white majority.
In his discussion of black nationalism
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the historian Wilson Jeremiah Moses
observes that "black separatism, or self-containment, which in its extreme form advocated the perpetual physical separation of the races, usually referred only to a simple institutional separatism, or the desire to see black people making independent efforts to sustain themselves in a proven hostile environment."
Scholars Talmadge Anderson and James Stewart further make a distinction between the "classical version of Black separatism advocated by Booker T. Washington
" and "modern separatist ideology." They observe that "Washington's accommodationist advice" at the end of the nineteenth century "was for Blacks not to agitate for social, intellectual, and professional equality with Whites." By contrast, they observe, "contemporary separatists exhort Blacks not only to equal Whites but to surpass them as a tribute to and redemption of their African heritage." Anderson and Stewart add, moreover, that in general "modern black separatism is difficult to define because of its similarity to black nationalism."
Indeed, black separatism's specific goals were historically in flux and varied from group to group. Martin Delany
in the 19th century and Marcus Garvey
in the 1920s outspokenly called for African Americans to return to Africa
, by moving to Liberia
. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton looked to form separatist colonies in the American West. The Nation of Islam
calls for several independent black states on American soil. More mainstream views within black separatism hold that black people would be better served by schools and businesses exclusively for black people, and by local black politicians and police.
Some individual mainstream black separatists supported anti-segregationists and integrationists within the African American community. They generally hold that black people can and should advance within the larger American society and call on them to work to achieve that through personal improvement, educational achievement, business involvement, and political action. Martin Luther King, Jr.
, who was a key speaker and leader in the political effort to overthrow segregation in the 1960s, and Malcolm X
, who until May 21, 1964 was known as a black separatist from the Nation of Islam
, may personify the opposition between the two views.
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n descent in societies historically dominated by whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, particularly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Black separatists also often seek a separate homeland. Black separatists generally think that black people cannot advance in a society dominated by a white majority.
In his discussion of black nationalism
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the historian Wilson Jeremiah Moses
Wilson Jeremiah Moses
Wilson Jeremiah Moses is an African-American historian. He is Professor of American History at Pennsylvania State University.__notoc__-Career:...
observes that "black separatism, or self-containment, which in its extreme form advocated the perpetual physical separation of the races, usually referred only to a simple institutional separatism, or the desire to see black people making independent efforts to sustain themselves in a proven hostile environment."
Scholars Talmadge Anderson and James Stewart further make a distinction between the "classical version of Black separatism advocated by Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
" and "modern separatist ideology." They observe that "Washington's accommodationist advice" at the end of the nineteenth century "was for Blacks not to agitate for social, intellectual, and professional equality with Whites." By contrast, they observe, "contemporary separatists exhort Blacks not only to equal Whites but to surpass them as a tribute to and redemption of their African heritage." Anderson and Stewart add, moreover, that in general "modern black separatism is difficult to define because of its similarity to black nationalism."
Indeed, black separatism's specific goals were historically in flux and varied from group to group. Martin Delany
Martin Delany
Martin Robinson Delany was an African-American abolitionist, journalist, physician, and writer, arguably the first proponent of American black nationalism. He was one of the first three blacks admitted to Harvard Medical School. He became the first African-American field officer in the United...
in the 19th century and Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
in the 1920s outspokenly called for African Americans to return to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, by moving to Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton looked to form separatist colonies in the American West. The Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
calls for several independent black states on American soil. More mainstream views within black separatism hold that black people would be better served by schools and businesses exclusively for black people, and by local black politicians and police.
Some individual mainstream black separatists supported anti-segregationists and integrationists within the African American community. They generally hold that black people can and should advance within the larger American society and call on them to work to achieve that through personal improvement, educational achievement, business involvement, and political action. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, who was a key speaker and leader in the political effort to overthrow segregation in the 1960s, and Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, who until May 21, 1964 was known as a black separatist from the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
, may personify the opposition between the two views.
See also
- African-Centered EducationAfrican-Centered EducationAfrocentric education is education designed to empower African people. A central premise behind it is that many Africans have been subjugated by limiting their awareness of themselves and indoctrinating them with ideas that work against them. To control a people's culture is to control their tools...
- Black supremacyBlack supremacyThe term black supremacy is a blanket term for various ideologies which hold that black people are superior to people of other races.-Overview:...
- List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups
- White separatismWhite separatismWhite separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for white people. White separatists generally claim genetic affiliation with Anglo-Saxon cultures, Nordic cultures, or other white European cultures...
Further reading
- Jenkins, B. L., & Phillis, S. (1976). Black separatism: a bibliography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
- Hall, R. L. (1977). Black separatism and social reality: rhetoric and reason. New York: Pergamon Press.
- Hall, R. L. (1978). Black separatism in the United States. Hanover, N.H.: Published for Dartmouth College by the University Press of New England.
- Bell, H. H., Holly, J. T., & Harris, J. D. (1970). Black separatism and the Caribbean, 1860. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Browne, R. S., & Vernon, R. (1968). On black separatism. New York: Pathfinder Press.
External articles
- Franklin Foer, Racial Integration Slate Magazine.