White Oppression Research Articles

"Winter in the Blood" as Comic Novel

If my students are any indication, many white American readers expect any novel written by an Indian, about an Indian protagonist who meets hard times, to be a bitter protest about white oppression of noble red men. Although House Made of Dawn and Winter in the Blood are by Indians, about Indians who are pretty well buffeted by life, they are not protest novels, though they are often read that way.1 In my opinion to read them as protest novels is to reduce complex books into simplistic melodramas based on racial sterotypes of noble savage and white oppressor. It seems to me that there is something condescending and even bigoted about not allowing blacks and Indians to determine their own attitudes about life in America. Too often we expect, even demand, that they be furious with whites and concentrate their efforts on reviling them. Black poet Al Young ridicules this attitude:

Black Americans and the Foreign Policy Process: The Case of Africa

AN MPORTANT aspect of the black revolution of the last decade is the increased interest it has aroused in Africa and African affairs among black Americans. They are now more aware than ever of the bonds that bind them to the continent of their origin. This awareness is reflected in the impassioned rhetoric of black nationalists like the late Malcolm X, in the popular styles that now adorn black America and in the vigorous emphasis now given to the diasporic concept.1 Along with this strong and growing identification with Africa, black Americans have been deeply touched by Africa's triumphs and challenges. The accomplishments of Africans in securing their independence and emerging as responsible actors on the international stage have been a source of immense pride to many black Americans.2 Unavoidably, they also are directly concerned with the formidable challenges still facing Africans, particularly the continued white oppression of millions of black people in Southern Africa, and the task of overcoming massive socioeconomic underdevelopment. In spite of this concern, there are distinct limitations on the resources black Americans possess for contribution to further progress in Africa. Centuries of racial oppression has denied to black Americans the economic means or technical skills that can contribute significantly to the effort. The most potent potential resource at present that they can mobilize on Africa's behalf is their large numbers in one of the wealthiest and most advanced societies.

Intergroup Attitudes and Social Ascent Among Negro Boys

Over the years two conflicting appeals have been directed toward black yourth: the achievemet of racial equality through integration on the one hand, and black power or solidarity on the other. The first is consistent with an approach to social change that views personal achievement in terms of the individual's performance within a context providing opportunity; racial change is thus reflected in the aggregate accomplishments of individual Negroes. In the nationalist appeal, self-improvement is linked to group achievement through consciousness of white oppression, and occurs by means of dedicated involvement in a collective struggle. Though support for each cause is commonly assumed to be negatively related, no correlation was obtained in a high school sample of Negro boys. Cross-tabulation of attitudes toward black solidarity and racial integration generated four attitude groups: support for only integration (integrationist) or balck solidarity (nationalist), and endorsement of both causes (pluralist) or neither (uncommitted). With some exceptions, hypothesized between-group differences were obtained on racial attitudes and experience, differential life opportunity, and individual competence.

Apartheid: Opium of the Afrikaner

Apartheid suggests, therefore, as the alternative to integration, a segregated country in which each racial group will enjoy full rights in its own area. To achieve his, the Whites must dispense increasingly with African tabour and do their own work. Unless they make this sacrifice (declares apartheid), they will simply be behaving immorally, and the refusal of equal rights to the Africans will constitute White oppression. This is the moral base on which apartheid rests.