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CHAPTER 45
AMERICA AGAIN AT THE CROSSROADS
I. The Negro Problem and the War
The three great wars of this country have been fought for the ideals of
liberty and equality to which the nation was pledged. As a consequence of
all of them, the American Negro made great strides toward freedom and
opportunity.^ The Revolutionary War started a development which ulti-
mately ended slavery in all Northern states, made new import of slaves
illegal and nearly accomplished abolition even in the South—though there
the tide soon turned in a reaction toward fortification of the plantation
system and of Negro slavery. The Civil War gave the Negro Emancipa-
tion and Reconstruction, in the South—though it was soon followed by
Restoration of white supremacy. The First World War provided the Negro
his first real opportunity as a worker in Northern industry, started the
Great Migration out of the South, and began the ^^New Negro” movement
—^though the end of the War saw numerous race riots and the beginning of
a serious decline in employment opportunities. After the advances on all
three occasions there were reactions, but not as much ground was lost as
had been won. Even taking the subsequent reactions into account, each of
the three great wars in the history of America helped the Negro take a
permanent step forward.
Now America is again in a life-and-death struggle for liberty and equal-
ity, and the American Negro is again watching for signs of what war and
victory will mean in terms of opportunity and rights for him in his native
land. To the white American, too, the Negro problem has taken on a signif-
icance greater than it has ever had since the Civil War. This War is crucial
for the future of the Negro, and the Negro problem is crucial in the War.
There is bound to be a redefinition of the Negroes status in America as a
result of this War.
The exact nature of this structural change in American society cannot
yet be foreseen. History is not the result of a predetermined Fate. Nothing
is irredeemable until it is past.® The outcome will depend upon decisions
and actions yet to be taken by whites and Negroes. What we can know
definitely, however, are the trends as they developed up to the War and
• See Appendix i, Section 3.
097
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