Black Nationalism
Throughout the history of white suppremacy, the notion of the color line and its complexity has been a key issue and defining force in U.S society particularly. This intentionally placed barrierserves to seperate white privelege and values from whites and non-whites. The existence of the color line depends on essentialist ideals that have also been produced to make a solid distinction between non-white and an inferior "Other." This static essentialism is upheld by cultural and structural ideologies that serve to rationalize and justify social and political agendas. The ideologies were formed long ago, but have been passed from one generation to the next and still exist but in different incarnations. This essay will look at the way African Americans have either negotiated, broken-through or redefined this line and by doing so, have trampled fixed and absolute notions of blackness and black identity.
Black nationalism/seperation came about as a belief that blacks would never be accepted as anything other than second class citizens and destined to remain under the exploitation of white power structure. In order for blacks to attain complete freedom in a society where they were unwanted, they had to stop pleading for acceptance into white institutions and either move back to Africa or form their own methods of economic sustenance, independence and cultural identity. Marcus Garvey was a militant black nationalist leader who began a movement that would spark the black nationalism/seperatist movement. Garvey was born in Jamaica. He moved to London in 1912 and became interested in African history and culture. He returned to Jamaica two years later and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the African Communities League. In 1916 Garvey moved to the United States. He went to New York City and set up a branch of the UNIA. Garvey’s most extreme program was the “Back to Africa” movement. He called all blacks to return to their true homeland,
Black nationalism/seperation came about as a belief that blacks would never be accepted as anything other than second class citizens and destined to remain under the exploitation of white power structure. In order for blacks to attain complete freedom in a society where they were unwanted, they had to stop pleading for acceptance into white institutions and either move back to Africa or form their own methods of economic sustenance, independence and cultural identity. Marcus Garvey was a militant black nationalist leader who began a movement that would spark the black nationalism/seperatist movement. Garvey was born in Jamaica. He moved to London in 1912 and became interested in African history and culture. He returned to Jamaica two years later and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the African Communities League. In 1916 Garvey moved to the United States. He went to New York City and set up a branch of the UNIA. Garvey’s most extreme program was the “Back to Africa” movement. He called all blacks to return to their true homeland,