INTRODUCTION
The African American experience spans
four hundred years, from the initial
settlement of the American continent by Europeans and the establishment
of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and down through the present day.
Throughout their sufferings and ordeals,the people of African descent
who were brought involuntarily to this country found the courage and
creativity
to "make themselves." They constructed their own unique rituals, traditions
and symbols; a distinct spirituality, music, art, dance and folklore;
a rich cultural heritage, kinship and community; and a complex body
of political
and social ideas about the contradictory nature of American democracy
and
the position of black people within it. In effect, black Americans made
their
own history, although not always in the manner in which they chose,
because
they were encumbered by the constraints of institutional racism and
white privilege.
This introductory course
in the African American experience is largely constructed
around the voices and language used by black people themselves. The
course is
organized chronologically, with an emphasis on the ideas of black social
thought,
political protest and efforts to create social change. About one half
of the course
covers the historical foundations and background to the modern black
experience,
from the struggle against slavery to the Harlem Renaissance. The second
half of
the course focuses on the past seventy years, from the Great Depression
to the twenty-first century.
During our course, we
will talk about a wide spectrum of African-American leaders,
intellectuals, organizations and institutions. Some have focused their
energies
primarily in finding ways for the black community to survive discrimination
and oppression. Through the development of their unique cultural and
social traditions,
and the establishment of African-American organizations, black people
have managed
to sustain themselves in the face of almost constant adversity. Other
African Americans
have advocated strategies of collective political change, challenging
the barriers
of inequality in white America. And still others have resorted to more
radical means,
from the slave rebellions of the nineteenth century to the ghetto uprisings
of the
late twentieth century, to improve the conditions of the black people.
Despite
these differences, what brings together nearly all representatives of
the black
experience are the common efforts to achieve the same goals: the elimination
of racism,
the realization of democratic rights and greater social fairness within
a racially
pluralistic society, and achievement of cultural integrity of the black
community.
Through the course lectures, required
readings and discussions, hopefully students
will acquire a fuller understanding about the historical development
and social
construction of black America: what African Americans have thought about
themselves
and the larger society, how they have evolved as a community with a
distinct culture
from slavery to the twenty-first century, and where they may be going
as a people.