The White Image in the Black Mind : African-American Ideas About White People, 1830-1925

How did African-American slaves view their white masters? As demons, deities or another race entirely? When nineteenth-century white Americans proclaimed their innate superiority, did blacks agree? If not, why not? How did blacks assess the status of the white race? Mia Bay traces African-American perceptions of whites between 1830 and 1925 to depict America's shifting attitudes about race in a period that saw slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, and urban migration. Much has been written about how the whites of this time viewed blacks, and about how blacks viewed themselves. By contrast, the ways in which blacks saw whites have remained a historical and intellectual mystery. Reversing the focus of such fundamental studies as George Fredrickson's The Black Image in the White Mind , Bay investigates this mystery. In doing so, she uncovers and elucidates the racial thought of a wide range of nineteenth-century African-Americans—educated and unlettered, male and female, free and enslaved. Library Journal With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Fredrickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long-overdue look at the other side of the coin. Aware that her task is more than just an inversion of Fredrickson's, Bay (history, Rutgers) explicitly addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume. African Americans, she notes, didn't always get to write down their own stories. As a result, she admits that she has had to rely heavily on records left by whites. She spends half of the book considering the Herculean efforts of a small group of black intellectuals to counteract white racist ideologies before and after the Civil War. But she also examines the complex racial ideologies of slaves, whose opinions she somehow manages to extract from the prejudicial writings of white observers and interviewers. Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship. For academic and larger public libraries.--Charles K. Piehl, Mankato State Univ., MN Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. How did African-American slaves view their white masters? As gods, monsters, or another race entirely? Did nineteenth-century black Americans ever come to regard white Americans as innately superior? If not, why not? Mia Bay traces African-American perceptions of whites between 1830 and 1925 to depict America's shifting attitudes about race in a period that saw slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, and urban migration.Much has been written about how the whites of this time viewed blacks, and about how blacks viewed themselves, but the ways in which blacks saw whites have remained a historical and intellectual mystery. Reversing the focus of such fundamental studies as George Fredrickson's The Black Image in the White Mind, Bay investigates this mystery. In doing so, she elucidates a wide range of thinking about whites by blacks intellectual and unlettered, male and female, and free and enslaved. Introduction1. Desegregating American Racial Thought2. OverviewPart I: White People in Black EthnologyChapter 1: "Of One Blood God Created All The Nations Of Men": African-Americans Respond to the Rise of Ideological Racism, 1789-1830Chapter 2: The Redeemer Race and the Angry Saxon: Race, Gender, and White People in Antebellum Black EthnologyChapter 3: "What Shall We Do With The White People?": Whites in Postbellum Black ThoughtPart II: The Racial Thought of the SlavesIntroduction to Part IIChapter 4: "Us Is Human Flesh": The Racial Thought of the SlavesChapter 5: "Devils and Good People Walking De Road At De Same Time": White People in Black Folk ThoughtPart III: New Negroes, New Whites: Black Racial Thought in the Twentieth CenturyChapter 6: "A New Negro For A New Country": Black Racial Ideology, 1900-1925ConclusionNotesIndex How did African-American slaves view their white masters? As demons, deities or another race entirely? When nineteenth-century white Americans proclaimed their innate superiority, did blacks agree? If not, why not? How did blacks assess the status of the white race? Mia Bay traces African-American perceptions of whites between 1830 and 1925 to depict America's shifting attitudes about race in a period that saw slavery, emancipation, Reconstruction, and urban migration. Much has been written about how the whites of this time viewed blacks, and about how blacks viewed themselves. By contrast, the ways in which blacks saw whites have remained a historical and intellectual mystery. Reversing the focus of such fundamental studies as George Fredrickson's __in the White Mind__ Introduction: 1. Desegregating American Racial Thought2. OverviewPart I: White People in Black Ethnology Chapter 1: ""Of One Blood God Created All The Nations Of Men"": African-Americans Respond to the Rise of Ideological Racism, 1789-1830Chapter 2: The Redeemer Race and the Angry Saxon: Race, Gender, and White People in Antebellum Black EthnologyChapter 3: ""What Shall We Do With The White People?"": Whites in Postbellum Black ThoughtPart II: The Racial Thought of the Slaves Introduction to Part IIChapter 4: ""Us Is Human Flesh"": The Racial Thought of the SlavesChapter 5: ""Devils and Good page Historical studies of white racial thought focus exclusively on white ideas about the "Negroes". Bay's study is the first to examine the reverse -- black ideas about whites, and, consequently, black understandings of race and racial categories. Bay examines African-American ideas about white racial character and destiny in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In examining black racial thought, this work also explores the extent to which black Americans accepted or rejected 19th century notions about innate racial characteristics How Did African-american Slaves View Their White Masters? As Gods, Monsters, Or Another Race Entirely? Did Nineteenth-century Black Americans Ever Come To Regard White Americans As Innately Superior? If Not, Why Not? Here, Mia Bay Provides Compelling Answers By Tracing African-american Perceptions Of Whites Over A Period That Saw Slavery, Emancipation, Reconstruction, And Urban Migration. Historical studies of white racial thought have focused on white ideas about the "Negroes". Bay's study examines the reverse - black ideas about whites, and, consequently, black understandings of race and racial categories