The Negro American Family

Abstract

present interest in the Negro American family, and in the family-connected problems explicit in such a concern, makes the republication of Du Bois's The Negro American Family singularly welcome. work was originally published as No. 13 of the now famous Atlanta University Publications.It is not a description of contemporary black families or of the consciences of blacks as they interpret and respond to present circumstances. A salient point about this study is that it was written prior to 1910. Aside from the question of the quality of the data on Negroes in 1900 and before, it is obvious they do not reflect current situations. Since then changes have occurred in such vital areas as urbanization and literacy. Moreover, the civil rights movement has altered the emphasis on, if not the substance of, the problems Du Bois examines.What then is the principal contribution that this book makes to the social sciences and to contemporary America? It lets us know that some of the problems of power, family stability, economic support, alienation, etc., have deep roots in the past. Even more important, however, are its methodological and theoretical contributions. To Du Bois the Negro family did not just happen; it had a history. For this reason he consistently strives to connect present conditions with an African past. He does not do this because ...Negro-Americans are Africans, or can trace an unbroken social history from Africa, but because there is a distinct nexus between Africa and America which, though broken and perverted, is nevertheless not to be neglected by the careful student.

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