Lecture 7: Race and Labor in America DuBois

Question 1

DuBois’s opinions on black labors contribution

Answer 1

his targets:
1. Great man theory of history
2. Pioneering spirit of westward expansion
3. traditional marxists (marx would look at labor capitalism and show how labor bring in surplus value and how this is exploitation; dubai says there is exploitation but at different levels

his evidence:
1. growth of the population of slaves: as constituent workforce of 18th and 19th century
2. growth of cotton production: cost of owning black slave vs white worker discrepancy shows point on exploitation and intersectionality
3.

Question 2

black labor in industries and how they benefitted of this

Answer 2

19th century leading industries such as textile wertr dependent on cotton which was beinfg producedin farms by black slaves

Question 3

colonialism’s parallel to racism

Answer 3

yeahjust that it pretty much paralleled it…BUT U STATE WHY AND HOW BRIEFLY

Question 4

Intertwined fates amid racial hierarchy

Answer 4

Dubai was interested in:
* promise of democracy in America: he claimed that the opportunity for real and new democracy in America was broad: mass migration of people from other countries; europe to america; another significant thing to be mindful of is that dubois says that the failure to deal with racism undermines the american promise of democracy

• Linking conditions in europe to white working class in America: read on this from reading
• white labor movement: not a forcr for abolition-white workers goals were at odds with black workers; what ur essay was on
• Intensified competition over the fate of the west
• failute of multi tacial labor movment - division of labor

Question 5

White Worker in the South

Answer 5

so dababy said that white workers in the south were ignored by northern labor class and also ignored by abolitionists.

these white workers were poor white people in the south and therefore didnt see any possibility of siding with working class or abolitionists; as a result they ended up siding with owners even though they were already being tormented by their owners.

Question 6

“wages of whiteness”

Answer 6

DuBois wants to understand why white people who are mistrated accept these conditions?

because of another meager psychological wage where slave owners and white nother industrialistd can crrate an environment over some sort of pride by saying that “at least we are not black.”

Question 7

Racial Capitalism

Answer 7

although this term was not explicity used by dubois; this concept emerges from his work essentially

within this the concept of employment by race is brought up: black unemployment is always significantly higher; black white wage gap stagnatinhg more for black people than white people; in terms of wealth accumulation white peoples networth outgrew black americasn by 30% points during the pandemic. Racial capitalism attempts to explain why this persists.

Question 8

More on racial capitalism

Answer 8

Racism precedes capitalism
* Capital accumulation has spatially and socially specific origin
i.e. White people are the first owners of capital
* The market is a spatially centrifugal force
* Colonialism
* The market favors those who own capital
* Mediates access to housing, education, credit, etc.
* New institutions built to reinforce difference, e.g. redlining, school districts,
etc.
* Racism as ideas in people’s heads vs. institutions
* Both can be true at the same time
* Possibility of “racism without racists”?