SOCI370/DuBois

Black Reconstruction

Jingjing Tan

W.E.B. Du Bois provides his own Marxist interpretation of Reconstruction. He argues that the strong contender for power and the collision between the slaves and elites are important factors that cause the conflict during the Reconstruction period. The North was in favour of the capitalism, and the South was advocating the industrial democracy. Since these two economic systems were supported by two different groups at the same time, the revolution occurred. However, Du Bois did not perceive Reconstruction as a bourgeois revolution, but rather an economic revolution and a labour movement based on the racial conflict. Although the southern working class was mainly consisted of the black freedmen and poor whites, the blacks and the whites did not unite and fight for equality. The unity of the white planters and workers deepened the racial segregation, and the working whites opposed to the black labor.

The power imbalance between the white and black Americans still existed in the contemporary American society. African Americans continue to be confronted with racial conflict and fight for the political, economic, and social equality with the whites. The recent activist movement Black Lives Matter has actively engaged in the protests and talked about racism embedded in the institutions.

Racial Wage

Rachel Man

Du Bois explains that even the white and black labor are in the same class, the whites still have privilege in the society because of their skin color. According to Marx, he proposes the model of social change: when the proletariat develops class consciousness, revolution will establish social change and try to overthrow the system. From this theory, everyone would assume that the white and black labor would gather and fight for a better condition but that is not the case when race is involved. White has their prerogative to use public facilities or other rights even the ones who are in the lower class and receive the lower wage. Du Bois called the prerogative of the white as a sort of “public and psychological wage” of the labor. With the unequal system in the society, Negroes’ self consciousness and self esteem become weaker and racial wage comes in as the white prevents the Negroes would become a threat to them when the blacks can own things in the white society.

Apply to contemporary social issue, the America election would be an example for Du Bois’ theory. According to Du Bois, he proposes that after the revolution of 1876 and slave was free from slavery, America would go toward the goal of being equality and democracy. If Donald Trump is elected, then white privilege would be introduced back into the society, then the racial wage might increase. Not only the earning of the racial wage, but also the public and psychological wage might have greater difference between race.