Document 21.5 A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, “The New Negro—What Is He?” 1919

Document 21.5

A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen | “The New Negro—What Is He?” 1919

A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen founded the Messenger in 1917 to provide an outlet for African American workers. The Messenger tackled issues of both race and class from a socialist perspective. It caused great controversy for its coverage of international issues, especially when it opposed U.S. involvement in World War I on pacifist grounds. The following editorial from 1920 elaborates on the definition of the New Negro and argues for fundamental changes in the structure of American life and politics.

In politics, the New Negro, unlike the Old Negro, cannot be lulled into a false sense of security with political spoils and patronage. A job is not the price of his vote. He will not continue to accept political promisory notes from a political debtor, who has already had the power, but who has refused to satisfy his political obligations. The New Negro demands political equality. He recognizes the necessity of selective as well as elective representation. He realizes that so long as the Negro votes for the Republican or Democratic party, he will have only the right and privilege to elect but not to select his representatives. And he who selects the representatives controls the representative. The New Negro stands for universal suffrage.

A word about the economic aims of the New Negro. Here, as a worker, he demands the full product of his toil. His immediate aim is more wages, shorter hours and better working conditions. As a consumer, he seeks to buy in the market, commodities at the lowest possible price.

The social aims of the New Negro are decidedly different from those of the Old Negro. Here he stands for absolute and unequivocal “social equality.” He realizes that there cannot be any qualified equality. He insists that a society which is based upon justice can only be a society composed of social equals. He insists upon identity of social treatment. With respect to intermarriage, he maintains that it is the only logical, sound and correct aim for the Negro to entertain. He realizes that the acceptance of laws against intermarriage is tantamount to the acceptance of the stigma of inferiority. Besides, laws against intermarriage expose Negro women to sexual exploitation, and deprive their offspring, by white men, of the right to inherit the property of their father. Statistics show that there are nearly four million mulattoes in America as a result of miscegenation.

Source: A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, “The New Negro—What Is He?” Messenger 2 (August 1920): 73–74.