Race & Enterprise I: From slavery to economic agency
Thu, Nov 17
Earlier in the term we considered the extent to which slavery fueled the U.S.'s economic growth. We discussed how enslaved Americans were treated as objects, rather than agents, in the U.S. economy. Now we're asking, What came (and still comes) next? How have Black Americans since the early 1800s worked to assert their rights as economic agents, including pursuing opportunities as entrepreneurs? In today's lesson, we'll look at three early leaders who were offering visions of Black enterprise.
Learning goals - By the end of this session you will understand:
- How Black historians balance narratives of pain/exploitation and resilience/creativity and how that applies to Black enterprise
- The barriers that Lewis Woodson, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. Du Bois were trying to help Black Americans overcome and the differences and similarities in their approaches
- The economic arguments that members of Bethel AME Church in Pittsburgh (where Woodson served as pastor in the 1800s) are making
Read This:
Access these readings on our course's Perusall page:
- "Black Enterprise: A History,"including excerpts from:
- Lewis Woodson, "To the West" [1839]
- Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery [1901]
- W. E. B. Du Bois, "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and others" [1903])
- Chris Hedlin, Rich Lord, and Naomi Harris, "Pittsburgh’s oldest Black church was demolished as ‘blight’ in the 1950s Lower Hill. Today, members seek justice," PublicSource (2021)
Watch This:
Early texts about race in America will often use words that people would consider outdated or even offensive today. That can be true regardless of whether the authors were white or Black. One group norm we'll ask you to uphold in our class community is to replace the oudated words with their contemporary equivalents in our in-class conversations. In evoking this norm, we're influenced by ideas that Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses eloquently in this video.