Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the brightest lights in African American history, wrote a sparkling critique of the American social and economic system originally planned as part of the Bronze Booklets series, edited and published by Alain Locke and the Associates in Negro Folk Education. The piece was never published and has, until now, been lost to the annals of adult education history. Using historical evidence, the authors examine Du Bois’s Basic American Negro Creed and the circumstances that led to its exclusion from the series. It is argued that the Creed was far too radical for the liberal minded Carnegie Corporation and its leaders who were only interested in accommodating adult education for Blacks through the AAAE funded Bronze Booklets. The exclusion of the Creed represents an example of repressive tolerance by the AAAE.

Keywords

Associates in Negro Folk education Carnegie Corporation repressive tolerance radical adult education W. E. B. Du Bois

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alridge, D.P. ( 2008). The educational thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An intellectual history. New York: Teachers College Press.

Bunche, R. ( 1936). A world view of race. Washington, DC: Associates in Negro Folk Education.

Cartwright, M.A. ( 1934, June). Letter to Alain Locke. Alain Locke Papers, Correspondence file, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University , Washington, DC.

Du Bois, W.E.B. ( 1971). Dusk of dawn: An essay toward an autobiography of a race concept. New York: Schocken Books . (Original work published 1940)

Du Bois, W.E.B. ( 1995). Socialism and the Negro problem. In D. L. Lewis (Ed.), W. E. B. Du Bois: A reader (pp. 577-580). New York: Henry Holt. (Original work published 1913)

Du Bois, W.E.B. ( 2003). Souls of Black folk (Modern Library Centenary edition) . New York: Modern Library.

Fitchue, M.A. ( 1996-1997). Locke and Du Bois: Two major Black voices muzzled by philanthropic organizations. Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 14, 111-116.

Guy, T.C. ( 1993). Prophecy from the periphery: Alain Locke’s philosophy of cultural pluralism and the American Association for Adult Education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

Guy, T.C. ( 1996). Prophecy from the periphery: Alain Locke’s philosophy of cultural pluralism. Adult Education Quarterly, 46(4), 209-223.

10.

Jordan, W. ( 2000). First impressions. In L. Back & J. Solomos (Eds.), Theories of race and racism: A reader (pp. 33-50). New York: Routledge.

11.

Lewis, D.L. ( 1995). W. E. B. Du Bois: A reader. New York : Henry Holt.

12.

Lewis, D.L. ( 2000). W.E.B. Du Bois-The fight for equality and the American century, 1919-1963. New York: Henry Holt.

13.

Locke, A. ( 1935). Letter to Lyman Bryson dated February 25, 1935. Alain Locke Papers, Correspondence file, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. Washington, DC.

14.

Locke, A. ( 1936, June 8). Letter to Lyman Bryson. Alain Locke Papers, Correspondence file, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University , Washington, DC.

15.

Marable, M. ( 1982). Alain Locke, W. E. B. Du Bois, and the crisis of Black education during the Great Depression. In R. J. Linneman (Ed.), Alain Locke: Reflections on a modern Renaissance man (pp. 63-76). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

16.

Marcuse, H. ( 1965). Repressive tolerance. In R. P. Wolff , B. Moore , & H. Marcuse (Eds.), A critique of pure tolerance (pp. 81-117). Boston: Beacon.

17.

Myrdal, G. , Sterner, R.M.E. , & Rose, A.M. ( 1944). An American dilemma: The Negro problem and modern democracy . New York: Harper.

18.

Potts, E. ( 1996). W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. In E. A. Peterson (Ed.), Freedom road: Adult education of African Americans (pp. 27-39). Malabar, FL: Krieger.

W. E. B. Du Bois’s Basic American Negro Creed and the Associates in Negro Folk Education

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References