Mark T. Carleton’s “The Politics of the Convict Lease System in Louisiana: 1868-1901” and the New Negro

A main aspect of my thesis is that the convict-lease system of the South was essential in shaping the New Negro. The horrid conditions of the South, including the convict-lease system, were responsible for pushing a multitude of African Americans to Northern urban centers, in search of a better life. The extreme situation in the South was important in fostering a sense of freedom. The New Negro knew that he/she did not want to remain entrapped in the racism of the South and took direct action to relieve themselves of that racism.

The convict-lease system was a process throughout the South in the aftermath of Reconstruction (1865-1877) in which localities entrapped African Americans, primarily men, in the criminal justice system. These men were prosecuted for petty crimes and given heavy sentences. Once they were sentenced, they were leased to private industrial firms. These firms subjected them to deadly conditions. The entire system had a distinct racial element because the hundreds of disappearing African American men were more acceptable than their White counterparts according to the racist allowances of the times.

Carleton’s article discusses how financial greed was an essential element of the harsh conditions that the leased people felt. Both the government and the private firms profited from the relationship, exchanging money for prisoners. In addition to the cheap prisoner labor, private businesses attempted to save money by maintaining their prisoners at the lowest possible cost. Carleton goes on to describe the government, specifically Louisiana’s, motivation in leasing its prisoners. Louisiana had a prisoner system that was in disrepair following the Civil War. In order to house their prison population, they would have to repair their existing prisons and build new ones. This task proved to be too much of a burden in Louisiana’s down economy. Carleton also discusses how the “vested interests” of the convict-lease system helped to perpetuate its existence. These groups successfully lobbied the legislature and governors for years until the system’s demise in the early 20^th century. The various factors including the economic motivations and the government-business relationship ensured that the convict-lease system would survive well into the early 20^th century throughout the South, motivating the New Negro to form and flee from the South.

Baldwin & Locke: The New Negro

In my investigation of the New Negro, I have discovered two definitive strains of New Negro thought. The New Negro articulated by Davarian L. Baldwin in “Chicago’s New Negroes” is more easily recognizable. This set of the New Negro expressed their freedom by engaging in the capitalist market system for purpose of advancing themselves and their race. In doing so, these entrepreneurs challenged White hegemony in beauty, power, masculinity, and economics. Baldwin introduces Jack Johnson as a central example in this challenge by New Negroes. Through Johnson’s career achievements, he was able to progress economically and help to build a sense of pride that was an instrumental characteristic of the New Negro.

In contrast, Alain Locke primarily focuses on the artistic expression of African Americans which formed and represented the New Negro. These artistic manifestations represented a New Negro that was unwilling to take the Southern oppression. These narratives in the form of stories, essays, and poetry helped to illustrate the resistance of the Great Migration. The New Negro’s sheer unwillingness to accept oppression is carefully documented in Locke’s work.

The two New Negroes are similar, however, in both of their ultimate goals and underlying themes. Their ultimate aim, in my opinion, was to uplift themselves and their race by destroying Black inferiority and White superiority. Cultural expression could also be seen in both situations. Cultural expression is obvious in Locke’s work. It serves as the vehicle for an articulation of resistance and freedom. The New Negro that Baldwin articulates attains this cultural expression by first controlling the economic marketplace by building a symbiotic relationship with Black producers and consumers. These entrepreneurs were able to insulate finances in their own communities, allowing for more possible avenues for cultural expression and racial pride.

The Warmth of Other Suns & The New Negro

“The Other Side of Jordan”, a short story in The Warmth of Other Suns, tells the story of an African American woman named Ida Mae. Ida Mae had recently migrated to Chicago from Mississippi in 1938. The story discusses Ida Mae’s experience voting for the first time in the Presidential election of 1940. Prior to the election, representatives from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaign heavily courted African American voters in the heavily Democratic city of Chicago, located in the important swing state of Illinois. A portion of these African American voters, like Ida Mae, were recent migrants from the South and had never experienced voting before the election of 1940. The story describes Ida Mae’s surprise at the campaigners’ interest in her. She was used to the norms of Mississippi (and the greater South) that systematically denied African Americans access to voting rights. Ida Mae did not talk about, let alone actually attempt to vote in an election back home in Mississippi. She knew that she would be turned away through a humiliating poll tax or literacy test. Furthermore, lynching and violent retribution were so much a part of the culture of her home state that she did not even consider voting as an option. At this point in the story, I began to think that Ida Mae had internalized her oppression. Conditions that people today would consider reprehensible and horrifying were routine aspects of her life. Understandably so, she knew the boundaries that were assigned to her and seemed to accept them for the time being.

In order to gain more of a first-person perspective, I supplemented “The Other Side of Jordan” with “I Too”, a poem by Langston Hughes taken out of The New Negro. This poem is extremely insightful while remaining general enough to apply to a number of situations. Hughes starts the poem by depicting an African American as “the darker brother”, an outcast in a household. This person is sent to the kitchen “when company comes”. The “darker brother” is treated poorly, just as Ida Mae was her entire life in Mississippi. However, the character in the poem “eats well” and gains his strength. He builds himself up to the point where he is able to overcome his oppressors. Instead, his oppressors will “see how beautiful” he is “and be ashamed”. Ida Mae got stronger, migrating to Chicago for a better life. In the Presidential election of 1940, Ida Mae’s oppressors, the Democratic Party, seemed to recognize her intrinsic beauty and importance. In recognizing this beauty, the Democratic Party wanted her vote and helped to facilitate an informed vote. However, I read the poem carefully in conjunction with the short story. I cannot in good faith conclude that the Democratic Party recognized the beauty of African Americans. Rather, they seemed to use them simply for their vote. The nationally-based Party used this vote without pushing a coherent and powerful civil rights agenda, leaving African Americans in the South (as well as the North) in immediate danger of violence and oppression.

My Self-Assessment

I came to UCSB with a very clear vision of my academic future. I intended to study Political Science and be on the fast track to law school. I imagined that I wouldn’t really enjoy Political Science, but that it would be the most applicable major to law school. I took my first Black Studies course Fall Quarter of my first year, Black Studies 7, on a whim. I soon discovered that I really liked the course. I realized that I enjoyed learning about aspects of history that I had never really heard about before. One of the best parts of the class was the TA’s passion for the subject. She really inspired me to keep learning about similar issues and take another Black Studies course. At this point, I had not made the decision to add the Black Studies major to my existing Political Science plans. I signed up for Black Studies 6 with Professor Lipsitz. The class completely blew me away. I realized that my interest in Black Studies was primarily in African American studies. I absolutely loved learning about the Civil Rights Movement. I quickly decided to become a Black Studies and Political Science double major.

Meanwhile, I began taking Political Science courses that complemented my Black Studies courses and vice versa. The two majors allowed me to look at the United States’ history and current systems with a critical eye towards the Black experience. I knew that I had made the right decision to become Black Studies major while I was interning at the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice. I loved dealing with cases and laws that involved civil rights and aspects of African American history. Although I have loved the teachers and substance of all of my Black Studies courses, my favorite course at UCSB was Black Studies 193AA with Professor Madison. This course, Race and the Constitution, was perfectly suited to accommodate my interests in African American history, politics, and the law.

I am entering law school this coming fall knowing that the knowledge gained from Black Studies will add a significant dimension to my life as a law student and eventually as an attorney. I'm forever indebted to the Black Studies department for my growth as a student and overall as a person.