In this essay, I would like to cover the role that socialism has played in the African-American´s community pursuit of equality and social justice. Some readers may be ¨turned off¨ because of a negative attitude and posture towards socialism. Unfortunately, many people condemn and demonize socialism without even knowing what it is about. Their views of socialism are based, for the most part, on a combination of market-place rumors and media hype. They have not taken the time to research the issues. Their view of socialism is based on hearsay.
In the four decades before the Civil War, several communitarian and utopian socialist societies were established in the United States. Utopian socialism found fertile ground in the United States and was the dominant current among socialists until 1850 (Ahmed Shawki, Black Liberation and Socialism, p. 110). During 1820-1850, the American countryside was liberally dotted with communities established by searchers for the utopias promised by Robert Owen and Charles Fourier (Philip Foner, American Socialism and Black America, p.4).
Marxists and utopian socialists had fundamentally different approaches to the questions of slavery and racism. The first difference involved the attitude towards Blacks and their involvement in the movement. Robert Owens opposed slavery but was a supporter of emigrationism and excluded Blacks from his own colony, New Hampshire, Indiana. He said that Blacks could be helpers if necessary, but if it were considered useful, they could be prepared and enabled to be associated in communities in Africa (Foner, p.6).
In contrast, the Communist Club of New York invited Blacks to become members. Its constitution required to ¨recognize the complete equality of all persons-no matter whatever color or sex (Phiip Foner and Brewster Chamberlain, Labor Movement in the United States: A History of the American Working Class From Colonial Times to 1890. Westport, CT: Greenwood Port, 1977, p. 6).
In chapter seven of his book, Black Liberation and Socialism, Ahmed Shawki makes it very clear that the attempted integration in the socialist movement by the African-American community did not result in an ideal situation. Many of the organizations claiming to be ¨socialist¨ were dominated by white leaders who still thought of the Black race as an inferior race. At times it was difficult to distinguish between the social class issue on the one hand, and the race issue on the other.
We might ask from a theological standpoint, what is the value of oppressed groups such as African-Americans aligning themselves with socialism? Will a movement that emphasizes the elimination of social class be beneficial to the African-American community?
This writer (yours truly) has a theological commitment to socialism. My commitment to socialism does not, however, emerge, like in the time of Karl Marx, out of an industrial context. Neither does it emerge from the context of a technological society such as the one we live in. My commitment to socialism is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The thrust of the Gospel message is full equality for all humankind independent of class, ethnic/racial issues, or issues of gender. While most socialist movements claim these very same things, the major ingredient missing in them is a God-consciousness which would enable them to view the dysfunction in human relations as the consequence of divine-human rupture.
It behooves us to examine how a Gospel-driven socialism can be more effective in and relative to the Black struggle for liberation. If we affirm and consider Jesus Christ as the ultimate liberator, then all other persons and movements offer us solutions that are half-baked and reformist. We need a type of socialism that gets to the root of the problem.
In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer.
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
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