To review and re-emphasize: from chattel slavery to wage slavery, the historical development of Black people is a history distinct from whites in the U.S. It is the welding together of a people, a nation, from a common culture, experience of oppression and systematic economic exclusion.
Racist oppression is the common experience of all Blacks in the U.S., but at the same time there are class divisions and class struggle within the Black nation. There is the common experience of racism and economic exploitation, plus a common history and culture growing out of the long struggle for freedom, all of which constitutes the nation and the basis for the Black liberation struggle, co-existing and interwoven with the class struggle.
Significantly, the overwhelming majority of Black people in the U.S. today are working people, concentrated in basic industrial production. But the contradictions that exist between the Black bourgeoisie and the Black working class have largely been obscured by the national oppression of Black people; likewise the fundamental contradiction between the monopoly ruling class and the total proletariat, composed of Black, white, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Asian and other peoples, has been obscured by racist ideology and white chauvinism.
Racist ideology is the ideology of oppression and division which is a necessary adjunct of oppression. It divides the Black nation from the white just as surely as it divides Black worker from white worker. Although the freedom of all the oppressed people is tied to the destruction of capitalism, in the minds of most Blacks today, exploitation and oppression are identified with whites as a whole, and nationalism becomes primary over feelings of class solidarity.
The oppression of the Black nation is a painful reality. The real seeds of revolution were sown with the first Blacks subjected to slavery in America. In order to grow, these seeds had to be firmly rooted in nationalism and nourished by this revolutionary sun. Under the existing racist conditions the Black people could not leap in a single bound to the fundamental struggle for total revolution in America; it was first necessary to return to the roots.
The Black nation needed roots to piece together its real history, to reaffirm its identity. It needed to begin first to eradicate the self-hatred, the acceptance of inferior status and the white man’s institutions, which Black people were never a part of. It needed to instill pride and purpose in the dreary lives of many work-a-day Black people whose average day in the white man’s world was just a struggle for survival. Every day was a day of humiliation, insecurity, fear and most of all an overwhelming urge to strike back.
“Who is afraid of who?” Centuries of slavery, serfdom, unemployment, exploitation, rape and murder are memories and current reality permanently branded on the collective consciousness of Blacks in America. The slave always wants to kill the slavemaster, and the oppressed always wants to eliminate the oppressor. This is the knowledge that instills fear and desperation in exploiting classes everywhere.
The Black nation is oppressed as a whole, but there have always been privileged classes among Blacks, even as far back as slavery when certain slaves were given positions above the rest and loved the master for it. The elite, which was first based on lighter-skinned Blacks and later on Blacks with some education and accumulation of some wealth, has historically been the buffer between the white ruling class and the masses of Blacks. The Black bourgeoisie has increased in direct proportion to the ability or, rather, the inability of the white power structure to directly control the masses of Black people.
The Black bourgeoisie’s dream of establishing itself as a Black owner class has always depended on the Black masses. It required mass support along nationalist or pan-Africanist lines in the attempt to control and exploit the Black economic market. Blacks understand the power of American capitalism, if for no other reason than the fact that Blacks have been both the basis for its accumulation and its most exploited victims. Therefore, the Black bourgeoisie continues to promote the idea that the capitalist system is fine, but Blacks must have a piece of the pie.
The Black bourgeoisie promotes bourgeois nationalism because it has a stake in the preservation of the capitalist economic, political and social system. They appeal to the poor Blacks on the basis that what is good for the Black bourgeoisie is good for all Blacks.
Bourgeois ideology permeates all classes and strata in America. And as oppressed as Black people have been, it is still possible for the Black bourgeoisie to hold out the. carrot of economic salvation through the capitalist system. The Black petit-bourgeoisie is most susceptible to this because it is riddled with the illusion of upward mobility. The unemployed and under-employed–which exist in large numbers for Blacks even during “good times” have likewise rallied to bourgeois nationalism because of its promise of employment and dignity. In periods of relative prosperity for society as a whole, bourgeois nationalism and Black capitalism have reached heights.
The Garvey movement was an example of a Black nationalist movement that affected all classes of Blacks. Although it had some progressive aspects such as promoting Black pride and consciousness, it was firmly based on the capitalist economic system. Garveyism reached its apex in the 1920’s, a period of unequaled faith in capitalism. Garvey believed in capitalism, but he felt that since Blacks were a minority in the U.S., the solution lay in the establishment of a new Black state in Africa (Liberia). His economic scheme was a combination of the Black masses as the source of labor, and hopes for assistance from the white monopoly ruling class.
Garvey’s plan fell apart for several reasons; principally because Firestone Rubber and its European allies, who had interests in Liberia, did not include in their plans a strong nationalist population transplanted from America. Secondly, the depression of the 30’s wiped out the fragile existence of most of the Black bourgeoisie. Black nationalism without a significant Black bourgeoisie became a danger to the white ruling class–it threatened to spill over into the already aroused working class.
Liberia was already and is today a U.S. colony, a product of Black nationalist back-to-Africa movements dating back to 1815. Although the Garvey scheme failed and migration to Africa today is totally unrealistic, the earlier back-to-Africa movements proved the deep divisions in America and demonstrated the deeply-felt desire of Blacks to separate from the madness of white-ruled America. But bourgeois nationalism, arising on the basis of the repression of the masses of Blacks, has to this day carefully avoided the economic roots of that repression and offered only unworkable schemes of separation and/or Black capitalism.
The Black bourgeoisie at first attempted to build itself on the Black economic market, which was already being exploited by white capitalists, both large and small. These Black capitalists initially gained some limited success, but they eventually had to turn to white philanthropists to expand. Meanwhile, the organizations representing the Black bourgeois classes have continued to press through the legal system for democratic rights; not for the Black workers, but to extend the rights of the Black bourgeoisie.
The civil rights movement was initially a movement of the Black masses not led by the bourgeoisie, but mainly by petit-bourgeois students with some ties with the Black masses. The ruling class, seeing that it was not led by the Black bourgeoisie, viewed the civil rights movement as a threat. The white rulers moved directly to turn this movement into an instrument to channel the militancy fomenting among the Black masses.
Rich whites began to take over leadership of this movement, and in fact made it an extension of white bourgeois liberalism. The concept of non-violence was particularly attractive to these white “supporters” of the movement: indeed, it was seen as a neutralizing force to forestall the real revolutionary fervor boiling underneath. Largely supported and stage-managed by the white bourgeoisie, the civil rights movement still failed to produce faith in the system. On the contrary, it simply served to heighten the contradictions.
The failure of the civil rights movement to bring real changes for Blacks ushered in a new stage in the Black liberation movement and ushered out the old tired Toms who had been made the leaders of the Black community. Faith in assimilation, integration, and the “good white folks” expired with the civil rights movement.
But the Black bourgeoisie did not evaporate. The peak years of the Vietnam war boom swelled the ranks of the Black bourgeoisie, but now it had a different face. It was militant, Black nationalist and dealing with the man on his own ground. On the wave of the militant struggle of the people, bourgeois nationalists rushed to the front to attempt to be heroes of the people. The mass, violent rebellions of the Black masses proved beyond a doubt that the struggle for freedom would continue until victory. Panicked, the ruling class allowed a bigger chunk of the Black economic market to the Black bourgeoisie. Although, like all comprador elements, these Black bourgeoisie served mainly as front men and Black faces for the same white business interests, these Blacks were cut in on a little more of the action.
Black nationalism was and is a progressive force, but the ruling class has attempted to turn it into its opposite by reducing it to the scale of Black capitalist exploitation of the Black masses, covered by the cult of reactionary cultural nationalist drum beating. In the ’60’s we saw the enlargement of the Black bourgeoisie, swelled with the heads of poverty and model cities programs, and “Negro Experts.” Some Blacks even went into the big corporate structure.
Along with this, there was a quick expansion of Small Business Administration loans to Black businesses, and individual grants from foundations (Ford, Rockefeller, etc.) and philanthropists designed to pacify the community and take the militants off the streets. The present economic crisis has reversed this trend and disgorged many of these people, who have flowed back out into the sea of the Black oppressed, scrambling for non-existent jobs.
The old forms of bourgeois nationalism and Black capitalism have not disappeared, they have simply had to take a back seat because they aren’t relevant, time, the march of events, has outstripped the programs of Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, et al. They no longer have an impact on the masses of Blacks. Forms of Black capitalism openly tied to the benevolence of the big bourgeoisie have been exposed as the myths they always were. They simply could not deliver the goods, and now everybody knows it.
Eloquent proponents of Black economic development at first gain a following among the masses, usually during the stage of community pressure against white business. But their influence soon begins to decline when it becomes obvious that their schemes benefit a very few. The unemployed and under-employed hope for better jobs that cannot be delivered, and the working Blacks realize that they are being further exploited by small capitalists in the name of nationalism which they cannot afford. Black businesses fail almost as quickly as they appear. Not only is bourgeois nationalism unable to upgrade the material living standards of Blacks, it becomes increasingly clear that it is merely an appendage of white capital.
Although the Black bourgeoisie still tries to take economic and political leadership of the Black liberation struggle, it has once again fallen behind the masses. The economic crisis and the inherent bankruptcy of Black capital have hastened the process. In order to recoup leadership, new forms of Black capitalism and bourgeois nationalism appear as the old ones become less viable.
Today Black people are dispersed throughout the U.S. and concentrated in large urban areas and in heavy industry. Exploitation on the job, in the community, unemployment, welfare, etc., are the reality of Black existence. The new spokesmen for bourgeois nationalism and Black capitalism call for the creation of separate Black institutions, separate political parties and political systems and a separate economy in the Black community.
The question is: can there be a separate economic and political structure in the U.S., independent of white capitalist power? If there are schools and hospitals to be built, housing and employment to be provided, where will they come from? In so-called Black banks, although the depositors in small individual accounts are mainly Black and the directors mainly Black, the majority of the capital that the bank needs to operate is white. Black firms depend on white capital to exist. It’s the same old story of Black on the outside– and white on the inside. The $39 billion yearly income of all U.S. Blacks is not enough to sustain a separate economy, even if a third of it could be saved for investment. And that income would still depend on employment in white industry.
The new political and economic brokers for the Black community angrily attack imperialism in Africa. Some have even gone so far as to make weak attacks on white capitalism. This clearly shows that the political consciousness of the people is advancing. But Black capitalists, ever seeking to contain the Black liberation struggle within bourgeois bounds, can only offer a separate Black capitalism as salvation. Some argue that total territorial separation is the answer for Blacks, in order to build a separate political, economic and social system. This is nothing more than a bid for the status of neo-colony. The demand for land, a separate territory, is a concept that still lingers in the minds of many Black people. The back-to-Africa movements have died with the emergence of African nations. A mass migration today is unrealistic and unwanted by the Africans themselves, but among Blacks in the U.S. there are still thoughts of a separate territory within this country. Historically, land has been denied to Blacks in the U.S. The thirst for land is as much psychological need as it is a material one. Land has always symbolized true freedom. But the U.S. today is a highly urbanized and highly industrialized country. Many Black workers understand that without industry just having some land would put Black people in the same situation as any small undeveloped country at the mercy of developed capitalist countries. And even with some industry, how could a truly independent Black state exist next to a white imperialist power that is exploiting and oppressing all over Asia, Africa anf Latin America?
What about separatist groups like the Muslims? Don’t they have some following? The Muslims are religious sect who comprise a small percentage of the Black population, but have been fairly successful in sustaining small capitalist enterprise. Further, the have been able to rehabilitate some elements of Black society who have been victims of narcotics and racist prisons.
At first the white ruling class was very apprehensive about the Muslims, especially when they began to make a national impact. But that fear faded with the full immersion of the Muslims into petty capitalism. The Muslims do not represent a political or economic challenge to the white ruling class, and they do no address themselves to the masses of Black workers.
The Muslims are, in a sense, more or les self-sufficient. They do not depend primarily on bank loans and grants, but all their property and enterprise is subject to the power of the white racist state, and this is an undeniable fact. The Muslims own many small businesses, farms and other properties, but the day they stop paying taxes to the state is the day this relationship changes.
Blacks organized pose a serious threat to the white power structure, but as long as that organization can be channeled into peaceful capitalist pursuits, it can be rendered harmless. It is no accident that whenever Black workers have been organized, the bourgeois classes begin to sweat. The history of working class struggle has been a bloody history precisely because i hurts the bourgeoisie most, and they try to crush it a all costs.
The liberation of the proletarian Black nation in America is tied to the destruction of monopoly capital and like all revolutions today, the revolutionary struggle in the U.S. cannot succeed without organizing the workers as the main force. Through racism and negative experiences in the labor movement the Black worker has been temporarily set back and has followed the banner of Black bourgeois nationalism. But the Black proletariat is beginning to find itself and advance under its own banner. The experiences of DRUM (Detroit Revolutionary Union Movement) in the late 60’s, and struggles in other areas where Black worker; have been organized, show the advanced character of the Black workers’ struggle and point to how they can give future leadership. The Black bourgeois classes have been able to mislead because there has been a lack of organization among the workers and because of the divisiveness of white racism. The bourgeois classes struggle and stumble to stay ahead of the masses, but as Black proletarian organization grows and links up with the struggle of the whole class, the Black bourgeois elements will have no choice but to join the real movement for Black liberation or be smashed by it.
Progressive nationalism and revolutionary ideology allow us to identify who are our real enemies and real friends. It spurs Blacks to recognize their true role and help unite the working class.
The building of Black and Third World revolutionary organizations and multinational revolutionary organizations, based in the plant and in the communities, and, out of the national and multinational forms, the building of a single, multinational Communist Party–this can lead the mass upsurge that will destroy the racist capitalist system. Self-determination for Black people–the right to determine their destiny as a nation–is a correct demand, but cannot be fully achieved until the roots of racist oppression have been eliminated. Racism will not end in a day, but only through struggle to eradicate monopoly capitalism and bourgeois ideology and to win real freedom.