The History of Black America

Slavery was abolished in the 1860s, but its legacy of racism persists to this day because it is useful to the ruling class.

From the beginning of European settlement in the Americas, slavery played an essential role in capitalism's development.

We're told that Abraham Lincoln "freed the slaves," but it's important to remember what slaves did to free themselves.

Contrary to the racist myths that live on today, Reconstruction was one of the greatest experiments in democracy the U.S. has ever seen.

The Populist struggle brought together Blacks with poor whites in a challenge against the Southern elite.

Racism at home has always been tied to racism abroad--so the fight against both forms of bigotry must be linked.

Booker T. Washington's "self-help" philosophy argued against political action and for an accommodation with racism.

In the face of systematic racism, the "back to Africa" ideas of Marcus Garvey struck a chord in early 20th century America.

Blacks faced some of the most vicious aspects of the backlash against working-class militancy after the First World War.

Militant organization grew out of Black veterans' experience of the First World War and the wave of racist violence they found back in the U.S.

Black revolutionaries got little support from the newly formed Communist Party in its first decade of existence.

The Communist Party approach to Black liberation flowed from the flawed slogan "Self-determination for the Black Belt."

The fight to free the Scottsboro Boys was one of the most important anti-racist battles of the 1930s and 1940s.

Blacks joined the unions as they spread during the 1930s labor upsurge as a way to fight desperate poverty and racism.

In discussions with U.S. comrades, the Russian revolutionary Trotsky asserted the centrality of the right to self-determination.

In contrast to his radical roots, labor leader A. Philip Randolph ended up a conservative voice during the civil rights struggle.

The anticommunist witch-hunts of the 1950s had a huge negative impact as the civil rights movement was taking root.

The economic and social changes caused by the Second World War helped set the stage for the upheaval of Black Southerners.

It took a militant Black struggle to pressure the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court's desegregation decisions.

The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is not just about its leaders, but a mass movement that involving tens of thousands.