Book Description
One hundred years ago, African Americans looked forward to the new twentieth century with mixed feelings of pride and discouragement. While they could point to the tremendous progress many of them had made since the end of slavery under the dynamic leadership of Booker T. Washington, the majority of White Americans showed little willingness to accept Blacks as equals, and in the South segregation was practically institutionalized through the recently enacted Jim Crow laws. It was in these uncertain times that this compelling collection of articles by leading African Americans was published to address what was then commonly known as "the Negro problem." The collection begins with a piece by Booker T. Washington on the value and purpose of stressing industrial education for Black Americans. This is followed by the now famous article by W.E.B. DuBois called "The Talented Tenth" in which he argues for the cultivation of an elite corps of Black intellectuals who would then work to uplift the African American masses. Other contributors discuss the disenfranchisement of Blacks, the broader subject of the people of color, and outstanding representative Black Americans. Issued in the centennial year of its publication, this new edition of a valuable classic is complemented by an informative foreword by Bernard R. Boxhill, professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

One hundred years ago, African Americans looked forward to the new twentieth century with mixed feelings of pride and discouragement. While they could point to the tremendous progress many of them had made since the end of slavery under the dynamic leadership of Booker T. Washington, the majority of White Americans showed little willingness to accept Blacks as equals, and in the South segregation was practically institutionalized through the recently enacted Jim Crow laws.

It was in these uncertain times that this compelling collection of articles by leading African Americans was published to address what was then commonly known as "the Negro problem."

The collection begins with a piece by Booker T. Washington on the value and purpose of stressing industrial education for Black Americans. This is followed by the now famous article by W. E. B. DuBois called "The Talented Tenth" in which he argues for the cultivation of an elite corps of Black intellectuals who would then work to uplift the African American masses. Other contributors discuss the disenfranchisement of Blacks, the broader subject of the people of color, and outstanding representative Black Americans.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal