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preface
At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, black historiography in the United States sprang up, and black historiography during this period was called the "revival of black history." It takes anti-racism as its banner, is politically oriented and history-based, and opposes the oppression and exploitation of blacks by whites.
Among black historians, the most representative figure is the American historian Edwin Sanders. He made a comprehensive and in-depth study of black history in his book The Life of Black, published in the early 1960s. In the book, Sanders notes that "among African Americans, especially whites in the American South and Midwest, there is a tendency to conflict between 'black' and 'white.'"
The image of black people in mainstream American historical narratives
Although Sanders' black historiography has many positive aspects, its limitations are also glaring. His research subjects were predominantly black in the American South, which in turn was concentrated in the South. Therefore, his research method mainly adopted the historiography of white historians. During this period, the narrative of black history in the mainstream historical narrative of the United States was very simple, the main content was the oppression and exploitation of blacks by whites, and the suffering and tragic situation suffered by black groups.
In the history of the United States, from the beginning of its founding until the 30s of the 20th century, the United States was a country of freedom, equality and fraternity for blacks, and it has always advocated and promoted a humanist concept of "racial harmony". Under this concept, the greatest suffering of black Americans is racial segregation caused by racial discrimination.
The idea of "racial harmony" was first born in the late 60s of the 18th century. At that time, European countries such as Britain and France began to implement a "white law equality" policy, aimed at eliminating racial discrimination in society.
As a nation of immigrants, black Americans faced serious racial discrimination from the beginning. As early as the colonial period, there was already a "New Society" in the United States, dominated by blacks and supplemented by whites. After the independence of the United States, this situation of racial discrimination was not well addressed, but on the contrary, it became increasingly serious and complex.
In 1873, Congress passed The Economic Rights Act, which comprehensively and systematically regulated the rights of blacks in American society.
Under the law, the U.S. government was to give all whites equal rights to run for office; Equal rights to blacks in the political, economic and social spheres; Wait a minute. Since then, black Americans have had basic rights as citizens.
However, these rights set forth in the Bill of Rights are not fully implemented. In American society, the policy of "white law equality" has actually evolved into a kind of "white left" propaganda and moral indoctrination.
It uses people's fanatical worship of the "white left" to create various racist concepts and behaviors, making white society and white culture a "white left" culture that black Americans must obey and accept.
Nowhere is this perception particularly evident in the American South. Here, white people consider themselves the best people in the world, who not only have excellent education and advanced science and technology, but also have lofty and great moral pursuits.
In order to make themselves appear better and greater, white people always spared no effort to promote to blacks the virtues they possessed and the bad deeds that blacks possessed.
In this atmosphere, the black community not only lost its original personality characteristics and ability advantages, but also gradually degenerated morally.
Due to the influence of mainstream white social values and moral behavior norms, the black community has always been in an "imperfect", "unsuccessful" and even "undignified" position in society.
In American society, the segregation and racial discrimination suffered by blacks have not fundamentally changed with the political rights of blacks. On the contrary, as racial tensions and conflicts in American society intensified, the status of blacks in society continued to decline.
Especially after the 30s of the 20th century, with the outbreak of the American Civil War and the fierce confrontation between the North and the South in the political and economic fields, a series of profound and complex contradictions and conflicts appeared within the white society. These contradictions and conflicts also spread to the black community.
Social evaluation and self-evaluation of blacks
Due to the gap between history and reality, there are also great differences in the narrative and evaluation of black history among black historians. Sanders argues that black history is a "personal history" narrated and evaluated by individuals.
In Sanders' view, black history is not only a personal life history, but also has a clear social attribute. The study of black history by black historians should focus on the two issues of "social evaluation" and "self-evaluation".
Social evaluation refers to the status, role and characteristics of the subjects in their lives and their relationship with the outside world; Self-evaluation, on the other hand, refers to the subject's perception of themselves, that is, their views on their position and role in society and the relationship between these views and the external environment.
In his book The Black Life, Sanders writes: "Black history contains a relationship between social evaluation and self-evaluation. We are not saying that blacks have not evaluated themselves in the course of their history.
On the contrary, we say that it is precisely because they have not evaluated themselves that they cannot be a "whole" in history.
Sanders believes that because blacks have long been marginalized in white society, they tend to form a sense of "self-identity" and thus develop a sense of inferiority and helplessness.
Sanders writes: "In the early '60s of the 20th century, this idea of 'self-identity' had a profound impact among black people. Since this idea is related to the social and historical status of blacks, a concept of 'self-identity' arises within blacks, and this idea changes with the perception of society that is inconsistent with its own status, role and historical status.
In this way, a concept of 'self-identity' emerges within blacks, and thus leads to divisions and racial conflicts within blacks." Sanders noted: "The division and racial conflict within black people is because they have not judged themselves.
We cannot think that there are no contradictions between blacks, that they are caused by the oppression and exploitation of blacks by whites, nor that there is a true racial harmony between whites and blacks.
Sanders proposed the theory of "dual history" in his book The Life of the Negro, the basic idea of which is: "History is not only a sequence of events, but also a sequence of countless events."
The dramatic expansion of black historiography
In American historiography, the status of black historians has been greatly enhanced, and they are recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Beginning in the late '60s, African American historians increasingly addressed the question of the relationship between race and history in their writings.
In his masterpiece "The History of the Negro", Sanders first pointed out that in American history, there was a relationship of opposition and conflict between whites and blacks, and they resented and hostile to each other.
Because there are great differences between blacks and whites, they have markedly different positions on historical issues.
When it comes to race relations, blacks see themselves as "chosen by God" and "sons of God"; White people, on the other hand, consider themselves "Son of God" and "Father of God." Sanders analyzes this in detail in the book. He believes that this view is very wrong, because there have been antagonisms and mutual hatred between whites and blacks for many periods of American history.
Black historians began to examine the racial problems that had occurred in American history from a fresh perspective. They approach the issue of race relations from a new perspective: recognizing not only the differences between whites and blacks, but also the fact that racial differences do not exist in isolation, but are closely related to various socio-economic and political events that have occurred in the history of the United States.
Black historians believe that there was a "inequality" in American history. There are historical differences, contradictions and antagonisms between whites and blacks; There is an "inequality" between whites and blacks: blacks cannot fully determine their own destiny, while whites can; In American history, whites have often controlled and exploited blacks through so-called "racial differences."
Sanders argues that white people are a "social animal." Whites are "inherited" from blacks, they inherit social traditions from blacks, they inherit views and attitudes towards blacks; White people have a certain political acumen and can correctly analyze and deal with various social problems; White people are constantly adjusting their social behavior to adapt themselves to the needs of different times and different social environments.
Black historians believe that the perception and attitude of whites as social animals is a typical "racist" view. When they study American history, they look and analyze problems largely from a white perspective.
In their opinion, whites consider themselves the best people in the world, and they are always able to put the differences between different peoples in perspective; White people are constantly adjusting their social behavior to meet the requirements of different ethnic groups in different times and social environments.
Because in American history, blacks have always appeared as a vulnerable group in American history. They are discriminated against and oppressed not only by whites, but often by a variety of other different racial groups. This "racial difference" does not truly reflect what "racial discrimination" and "racial oppression" existed in the real sense of American history, but only reflects some inequalities, injustices and irrationalities in American history.
In this so-called "racist" view, whites are the best and best people in the world, while blacks are the most pitiful, backward, uncivilized and inferior people in the world. In American history, there have indeed been various differences between whites and blacks.
End
When black historians appeared and worked to unearth the historical memory of black minority groups to gradually change the mainstream, the image of blacks and the status of blacks in historical narratives, the image of blacks in American history textbooks was no longer described only by white historians, who could write their own history and make American blacks a part of American history.
bibliography
1. Alan Brinkley, Shao Xudong (trans.): American History, Hainan Publishing House, 2009.
2. Dong Hengxun: A Brief History of American Literature (Revised Edition), People's Publishing House, January 2003.
3. J. R. Bohr, Zhang Juguo (trans.): The Course of American Equality, Commercial Press, 2007.
4. (American) Joanne. Grant, Guo Ying, et al., trans., History of the American Black Struggle: History, Documentation and Analysis from 1619 to the Present, China Social Sciences Press, 1987.