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Review
| Creative Conflict in African American Thought: Frederick Douglass, Alexander Crummell, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey, by Wilson J. Moses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 320 pages. $65.00, cloth; $24.00, paper.
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| Readers of African American intellectual history will find much to like in Creative Conflict in African American Thought. This fine study describes the internal struggles and contradictions of five complex Black leaders during the Progressive Era. These five figures were selected based on their intellectual activity, mutual antagonisms, and writings. Of the noted men, Washington, DuBois, and Garvey were all 20th century leaders and Garvey was a less prolific writer than others in the group. Still, Moses found much conflict within their private and public lives. Adept at analyzing the writings of these leaders, Moses perhaps reserved his harshest critique for Douglass. He argues that Douglass shielded himself from criticism with theatrical skills but little defense of his philosophy. For instance, Douglass often clashed not only with Alexander Crummell but also John Mercer Langston, the latter like Douglass, a mulatto. If Douglass had anything in common with Crummell it was soon forgotten in often bitter jabs. According to Moses, Douglass never escaped his slave background and despite three autobiographies, still confined himself to a literary box defended by his gigantic ego. Although Moses contends that the Douglass-Crummell confrontation at Harper's Ferry was significant, he did not elaborate on it. Crummell's contradiction seemed to consist of his Anglophile background juxtaposed against Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism. Whereas Crummell was closer to his African background than any of the intellectuals, he always demonstrated his reverence for European civilization and his disappointment in African culture. He was especially distressed about the lack of development in African religions and languages. Crummell also considered some African leaders as pagans. In the end, Crummell could not overcome his admiration of European culture, even supporting 19th century European protectorates in West Africa |
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Booker T. Washington, like Crummell recognized the need for African-Americans to rebuild the industrial machine to suit themselves. Whereas Washington supported sharecropping, he also realized that because of debts to whites, Black farmers would never acquire economic power. Washington was torn between idealism and pragmatism, never quite able to define either position. He was equally uncertain about which institution was best at motivating African-Americans, was it religion or materialism? Social reform, Washington believed, required a pragmatic religion and the Protestant ethic. But his formula would only create more sharecroppers with debt rather than capital. Washington failed to realize that African-Americans were consumers more influenced by the age of advertising than determined to accumulate capital. Moses suggests that DuBois likely had the greatest conflicts. He refers to DuBois as an elitist but one who liked the lower class; an Afrocentrist on one hand but someone who enjoyed European literature; and a liberal who later became a communist. Late in life, DuBois became increasingly preoccupied with religious mythology, an obvious counterpoint to his Marxism materialism. Moses attributes contradictions in his life to his childhood poverty, his unknown father, and his fear of the racist majority. In an effort to resolve these internal conflicts, DuBois only created more intellectual challenges. At one point, he supported Washington's concept of economic self-help and the NAACP's integrationist stance only to harshly criticize capitalism and advocate Black separatism later. While DuBois first proposed the problem of the color line in 1901, twenty years later, he had abandoned it as a means to achieving racial equality. |
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Garvey struggled to become an international hero. Moses concedes that he was successful in this endeavor but it was short-lived. While Garvey was, like DuBois, an Afrocentrist, Garvey had difficulty in defining the ideology. For example, because of its emphasis on sexuality, exoticism, and popular culture, he rejected the Harlem Renaissance. Garvey preferred the more majestic past which included the Egyptian pyramids. He saw little hope in integration and advocated the preservation of African-American culture through separatism. But, although he supported separatism, Garvey still favored capitalism. He advocated Black nationalism but opposed feminism, especially within the UNIA. In the end, Garvey found himself struggling between Black nationalism and his respect for European traditions. |
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Students in my African-American History course have been assigned portions of Creative Conflicts. They will find the work useful for its many comparisons of these African-American leaders. It stands out as the best text available for African American intellectual history and as a supplement for African American surveys. In Creative Conflicts, Moses exposes the strengths and weaknesses of five African-American intellectuals whose reputations until now had escaped such a close scrutiny. |
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| Claflin University |
Jackie R. Booker |
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