2021-2022 Academic Catalog

Apr 25, 2024

2021-2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIST 225 - Blacks & Reds: African Americans, Socialists, and Communists in the 20th Century

This course examines the Socialist and Communist Party’s influence on the African American freedom struggle during the twentieth century. While scholars continue to debate the role of communism and socialism in the black protest tradition, this course seeks to place black involvement in these two parallel movements within a historic framework. This will allow students to contextualize debates over the meaning of “freedom,” both domestically and abroad, with attention to the growth and decline of the “Old Left.” Key questions will include: *How did black activists utilize communism and socialism to further their own ends? *In what ways did the CPUSA and the Socialist party shape debates over how best to challenge racist public policy and private practice? *Why did well-known black writers and intellectuals join the Socialist Party and Communist Party even though they were well aware of the aggressive federal and state efforts to destroy these two political organizations? *Why did many of those same African Americans who affiliated with communists and socialists ultimately reject both the Socialist Party and Communist Party by the end of the 1950s?

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered bi-annually