Social Darwinism In "Righteous Propagation" By Michelle Mitchell
In chapter one of Righteous Propagation Michelle Mitchell talks about social Darwinism, the American colonization society, Liberia, and more. Social Darwinism stated that a natural biological hierarchy made it impossible for different races to live as equal together. It was impossible for Blacks to be on the same level as Whites. Blacks began associating freedom with territory; their current living arrangements were only slightly better than their enslaved ancestors’. The only thing black people wanted was to live freely with no hostility towards their race, they had hoped for only black states. A man named James Dubose felt blacks needed to “free” themselves and head to their own territory, Liberia. Other blacks agreed with Dubose like Thomas Cox. Cox felt that Liberia would be their greatest freedom. However, elite colored men and representative colored men were anti-emigration.
Most African Americans pushed to get to Liberia, they felt it was where they could work out their own destiny best. They were tired of being treated like slaves even though they were free. The American Colonization society wanted all the “negros” gone, between 1817 and 1866 they removed 11,200 people of African decent from the United States. When the fugitive slave act passed in 1850 everyone was trying to figure out how to get out of the United States. Black emigration conventions banned the thought of going to the eastern hemisphere.
Martin Delany defined colonization as the racist removal of black from the united states and emigration as blacks wanting to and deciding to leave the united states. Blacks were wary about going to Liberia because of its association with the American colonization society. “The meanness of the country the crimson blood of 46,000 men and women who have been slaughtered like brutes persuaded so many to leave” (Mitchell, Ch. 2, All Important Question).
In 1877 Black South Carolinas joined other states to start the Liberia Exodus Association (LEA). The lea raised money for their own ship but there wasn’t enough room for all the emigrants. Liberia had a shortage of food and work which caused many of the emigrants to go back to the United States. There were some people who were successful in Liberia. Sherwood Capps went to Liberia in 1877 via American Colonization Society and sent a letter to his friend saying what to bring. The US and Congo National Emigration Company agreed to ferry emigrants to Liberia but in the end couldn’t get a ship, leaving people stranded.
In 1890 people were overall dissatisfied with emigration. I believe this assigned reading reflects the peril of studying this type of history. In this chapter we see how African Americans feel not physically but emotionally. The United States as a country drained African Americans mentally and physically to the point that they felt their only way out was to go to another country and risk losing their friends, families and jobs. But that was better than living like a slave when that period was supposed to be over for them.
What’s the point in being free without freedom to live at peace – to constantly worry about being lynched just for living freely? To them there wasn’t one. If this chapter showed the promise of studying this type of history I believe it would have only focused on the success stories of the Liberia emigration and not the failures. We see African Americans get “played” with when it came to emigration, from having to be approved to go to Liberia to ships not showing up or having enough room to take all those wanting to go. Even though they would have been out of site and out of min it was still too much for them to receive help. Blacks were never treated fairly or equal even when though they were “free slaves”.
During the Jim Crow era, Black women weren’t even treated as women. They were basically allowed to be sexually harassed, had to ride in a dirty and smelly car that would often ruin their clothing. The cars were a constant reminder that they weren’t as good as white women. When blacks were first free, whites wanted them to return to the field as free laborers. When they had their own houses night riders would come and take everything from them (land, weapons, food, cash) and it made white men feel honorable. Blacks had no choice but to work under whites and couldn’t work under each other which is one thing that they wanted when they began talking about going to Liberia. Black wives were losing their husbands and going back to work where they were slaved, which is extremely insensitive. Blacks never got out of their nightmare.
When Margaret Singer started the birth control movement it started innocent but ended up in another race war against blacks. Birth control turned into something to control the black population so there would be less of the inferior race and more of the superior race whites. They called blacks genetically defective and were castrated as punishment. Then the mammy statue proposal made a lot of people offended as it should have. The mammy statue dehumanized black women and made it seem like that was the only thing black women did or could do. The only time black women really had authority was during the emigration to Liberia. Black women had a lot of roles with authority when it came to Liberia. Even though this side of history shows the peril in history it needs to be taught. Without this perspective of history people are being misinformed about their cultures and the full truth to what has happened in our history. We all know the basics like the segregation and overall racism, but I feel some people don’t know just how much ex-slaves were still enslaved during what should have been a joyful and liberating period for them.
Studying the peril shows us how strong these people were. They pushed through being beat to death, robbed of everything, public killings, and failed emigrations; but all it did was fuel them to keep going until things were right. This reading and all the readings in our first unit have shown the peril. They’ve shown us real truths that our high school history books didn’t. The journey for African Americans was intense, brutal, and constantly disappointing. Hearing about them being killed and robbed for no reason, even when fleeing gave us a glimpse at how bad white supremacy was. Allowing women to be sexually assaulted for being black didn’t even make them seem like humans but objects which is a peril of this type of history. But, studying the peril can open our eyes in a way that the promise can’t.
Works Cited:
Bay, Mia. From the "Ladies Car" to the "Colored Car". Mia Bay, 2012.McElya, Micki. “Monumental Power.” researchguides.csuohio.edu/ld.php?er attachment_id=816915.
Mitchell, Michele. Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial Destiny after Reconstruction. University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
