(1948) - The Negro Nation - Harry Haywood
In the 1948 work, The Negro Nation, Harry Haywood grappled with the dilemma of the systemic oppression and exploitation of Black Americans, particularly in the Black Belt region of the South, where they were "colonized" within the U.S. capitalist system. He argued that the Black Belt should be recognized as a distinct "black people Nation" with the right to self-determination, challenging the dominant narrative that Black people were merely an oppressed minority. Haywood's socialist analysis highlighted the need for a revolutionary approach to address the economic, social, and racial inequalities that shaped the lives of African Americans, especially in the South.
Self-government is a slogan that epitomizes the immediate political demands of the Negroes in the South. It would give the entire movement around these urgent demands of Negro equality -- demands being accepted by ever increasing numbers of democracy-loving Americans -- their proper focus and import. It would raise the struggle to a higher level, pointing this struggle to its ultimate goalthe achievement of fundamental agrarian reform and the full right of self-determination.