In 1944, the future for black Americans appeared both hopeful and uncertain. World War II laid bare some of the fundamental contradictions in US society. Here was a war for democracy and against fascism based on theories of racial superiority. Here was also a war being fought by a segregated army and a country where black people were denied basic citizenship rights. Black people’s intense involvement with the war, however — their sacrifices in service of a country that denied them basic human rights — carried with it the possibility for dramatic gains.
It was in this context, seventy-five years ago, that What the Negro Wants was published. Howard University historian Rayford Logan gathered essays from fifteen influential black political figures from across the ideological spectrum tackling what demands black Americans should push for after the war and the various strategies and tactics to be used to win them.
What the Negro Wants provides a unique view into black politics during that time period. The essays reveal the wide array of ideological tendencies operating within black political life, something often missing today from analyses that adopt the monolithic framework of a singular “black community.” Perhaps more striking was the common agreement among the diverse tendencies — and what this tells us about the transformations in black political life from then to now.
The writers shared a broad consensus around the vital importance of the labor movement (especially the Congress of Industrial Organizations, CIO), given black people’s overwhelming working-class composition. There was also much agreement around broadly social democratic demands and the necessity of interracial coalitions. The political aspirations of this period were fundamentally more radical and working-class-oriented than what has emerged since Black Power — which, despite its militant rhetoric, on the whole moved the black movement away from advocating for a more profound redistribution of power and resources in US society.
A multidimensional assessment of both historical and contemporary black political developments is needed for our current moment. A social democratic current is roaring back onto the political scene. A “political revolution” of the type Bernie Sanders envisions would necessarily involve rebuilding a viable working-class political project among millions of black people. It is with this task in mind that we should review the triumphs and limitations of the past.