George S. Schuyler published Black No More in 1931. It is a satirical novel that faded into obscurity because of the author’s unpopular political views with mainstream American readers: a scathing disdain for organized religion, harsh criticism of lauded Harlem Renaissance figures and skepticism of the emerging socialist movement of his time. But if this is all in the past, why is his book relevant today? I think a passage may help clarify why I revisited Schuyler now, in 2015, at the dawn of a Presidential election:
What had happened at Paradise [South Carolina] had also happened elsewhere. There were no more rumors of strikes. The working people were far more interested in what they considered, or were told was, the larger issue of race. It did not matter that they had to send their children into the mills to augment the family wage; that they were always sickly and that their death rate was high. What mattered such little things when the very foundation of civilization, white supremacy, was threatened?
In the novel, the main character, Matthew Fisher, exploits the existing racial prejudice of the voting public for personal gain after turning himself white through an absurdly fictitious medical procedure at a for-profit clinic called “Black No More.” Fisher discovers he can avoid facing any type of scrutiny as long as he uses race, or the “black menace,” as a red herring. He manipulates other characters who are blinded by ignorance and their inflated, baseless notions of racial superiority to do his bidding simply by convincing them that America’s “black problem” supersedes any other political issue during a Presidential election year. This is but one of the many parallels that Schuyler illustrates to the rhetoric, issues and personalities seen in our current Presidential race, but Schuyler does it roughly 85 years in advance. Then, as now, we have conservative candidates using existing prejudices to divert attention away from actual issues. Then, as now, we have moderates and progressives who don’t want to acknowledge that America’s problem with race exists still, though empirical and intuitive information would indicate the contrary. Above all, with the skill of Swift, Schuyler shows his readers how absurd and arbitrary the notion of race is as a socio-political construct and how irrational and misguided the people are who use it as their raison d’etre, white or black. True, Schuyler was a political conservative, which has never been popular with people of color. What makes Black No More so relevant and poignant is that it has not lost its resonance or bite with people who tend to value intellectual honesty, read and vote after nearly a century. That is quite remarkable for any work of satire.
“Bunny, I’ve got it all worked out,” announced Matthew, several mornings later, as he breezed into the office.
“Got what worked out?”
“The political proposition.”
“Spill it.”
“Well, here it is: First, we get Givens [the Presidential candidate] on the radio; national hookup, you know, once a week for about two months.”
“What’ll he talk about? Are you going to write it for him?”
“Oh, he knows how to charm the yokels. He’ll appeal to the American people to call upon the Republican administration to close up the sanitariums of Dr. Crookman and deport everybody connected with Black-No-More.”
“You can’t deport citizens, silly,” Bunny remonstrated.
“That don’t stop you from advocating it. This is politics, Big Boy.”
This is Schuyler at his finest. It’s impossible for contemporary readers to avoid thinking of Donald Trump and his shockingly effective strategy of using popular media, celebrity status, racial politics and his business connections to advocate the deportation of a ridiculously large mass of people based on their skin color. The author is embarrassingly prophetic here since this inane “modest proposal” has finally found its way into our present reality.
Black historical figures like W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey do not escape Schuyler’s biting criticism. The pseudonyms he uses do very little to disguise the subjects of his attacks. Though neither of these giant figures of the Harlem Renaissance were without their critics then and now, I admit admiration for Schuyler’s courage to make his feelings about them public, as he at one time or another worked for both men in his life. DuBois’s elitism and Garvey’s self serving lack of pragmatism are exposed through laughably transparent caricatures with detailed descriptions and carefully chosen verbiage.
The deep concern of the Southern Caucasians with chivalry, the protection of white womanhood, the exaggerated development of race pride and the studied arrogance of even the poorest half-starved white peon, were all due to the presence of the black man. Booted and starved by their industrial and agricultural feudal lords, the white masses derived their only consolation and happiness from the fact that they were the same color as their oppressors and consequently better than the mudsill blacks.
Before Dylann Roof, most of America had all but forgotten that there are still many who hold white supremacy as their highest ideal and would go to extreme lengths to force their beliefs on the rest of society. It is also eerily coincidental that Schuyler would begin his protagonist’s journey for wealth and power in a fictional racist small town in South Carolina. The legislative context of Black No More is set in the civil struggle to get anti-lynching laws passed. However, in the current zeitgeist where racially based policing and sentencing amounts to the lynchings of the past, the legal dimensions that fuel Schuyler’s obvious frustrations still exist. The worst racists in American society always seem to have a ready ally in the courts and legislative systems. Not much has changed there since 1931. Black No More is not a hopeful, optimistic tale about justice, freedom and equality winning out in the end, but it is a two-way mirror of sorts that allows readers to examine society as it exists in terms of race and how we view the “leaders” who are trying to change it ostensibly for the improvement of their own race. The play remains the same, but only the names have changed.
[Ken Powe is a Grammy® nominated keyboardist, producer and former English professor of 20 years. He is currently a self-employed business consultant in Birmingham, Alabama.]
