"Black man's burden" John Oliver Killens (Trident Press, 1965)

"Black man's burden" John Oliver Killens
Author: John Oliver Killens
Publisher: New York, Trident Press
Year: 1965

Black Man's Burden is written at white heat, as author John Oliver Killens gives what for to the white American. He operates from the viewpoint that ""just as surely as East is East and West is West, there is a 'black' psyche in America and there is a 'white' one, and the sooner we face up to this psychological, social, and cultural reality, the sooner the twain shall meet."" His is a quotable invocation of affect rather than fact as he views the American Negro (""an Anglo-Saxon invention"") in white society, the stance of the black writer vis a vis his country (people should write about race). He sees America as a southern land, there being down South in Georgia and up South in New York, assays the myth of non-violence versus the right of self defense, and affirms the right to violence in the face of violence. He feels the black people are on the march and concludes with the assertion that ""we black folk cannot turn back because there is nothing behind us and everything ahead of us."" More style than substance. (text by Kirkus review (dot) com)

Contents

The black psyche

The black writer vis-a-vis his country

Downsouth-upsouth

The myth of non-violence versus the right of self-defense

The black mystique or would you want one of them to marry your daughter?

Black man's burden