This is an interesting and attention grapping book primarily
concerned with the plight and fate of the Black
Americans. It is an historical
analysis of the story of the Black American from the Slave Era to this very day
at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
This book is also a philosophical and atimes passionate
discussion on various aspects of the Black American question: various matters
in hand including the relative advantages and disadvantages of Separatism,
Segregation, Integration, Acculturation and Assimilation; the future destiny
and fate of the Black Americans in the Americas and Africa; the Pan-Africanist
movement and its implications for the condition of the Black American, and so
on and on.
The first part of this riveting book is concerned with the
controversial question of Integration versus Separatism in the context of the
ultimate Identity of the Black American.
The
author expended large volumes of pages in discussion of
the pros and cons of Integration, Segregation and Separatism. The methodology
he employed is that of dedicating a number of rather large chapters to each and
every one of the three, namely, Integration, Segregation and Separatism before
eventually going over to the equally studious process of dedicating similar
large and engaging chapters to the debates on the relative advantages of each
and every one of the three. In all these the author arrayed an extensive and
comprehensive collection of research data from innumerable authorities.
The tactic the author used was that of showcasing the
extensive research excerpts from opposing authorities to speak in favor of and
against each and every one of Integration, Separation, and Segregation for the
reader to see for himself the actual relevance and significance of each of
these three for the situation and condition of the Black American in the
Americas and the rest of the world.
The author’s own personal conviction is that Integration is
the worst option out for the Black American; that Separation is the best way
out for the Black American; and that Segregation will continue to be the lot of
the Black American for as long as he remained in the Americas.
The author, however, empathetically maintained that the
question of Integration, Segregation and Separation can not be answered in a
black and white or yes or no manner.
The author insisted, paradoxically enough, that in terms of
pragmatic exigencies, the current drive for Integration on the part of the
Black American is the best strategy for the Black American; that any attempt at
a decisive fight for Separatism by the Black American will not augur well for
the Black American; and that the best the Black American can do for now is to
continue with his determined and legal fight against the evils of Segregation.
The author then became busy as he engaged in a lengthy and
elaborate defense of his opinion through a thoroughgoing analysis of the
history of the Black Americans.
The author engaged in a meticulous and detailed examination
of the Slave Era, the Abolition Movement, the Reconstruction Period, the
beginning of the Black Movement period, the World Wars era, the Civil Rights
movement, the Pan-African movement, the Harlem Renaissance era, etc, etc.
In this connection the author also took up the subject in
details on the lives and achievements of various Black American heroes
including Benjamin Banneker, Paul Cuffee, Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammed,
Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jnr., and many others.
The belief of the author is that the Black American will not
remain in America
forever. His theory is that America
is on the decline while Africa is on the rise; and that whatever the case might
be the Black American will one day be forced to discover the sooth that Africa
is a better homeland than the racially discriminatory society of America.
In a prophetic tone the author messianically argued for his
remark that some time in the future a Black Moses, some one not unlike the
types of Paul Cuffee, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X, will lead an overwhelming
majority of the Black Americans back to Africa.