he degrading
position which had been assigned to them. Utilizing the limited resources
within their own community, new leadership evolved and began to debate
the issues of the day. Before Emancipation the problems had seemed
simple. All attention was focused on the abolition of slavery, and the
only point of controversy centered on the means by which it should be
achieved. But segregation and discrimination were not so easily defined
and attacked. The debates which ensued widened to include disagreement
over both means and ends. A vocal minority, discouraged by the
emasculating effects of discrimination, believed that they should
withdraw from white society altogether. Some of them wanted to return to
Africa and to assist its inhabitants in their liberation from European
imperialism. They planned to create an independent African nation.
Others, while not wanting to leave America, still wanted to withdraw from
white society into a world of their own choosing and making.

The majority, however, insisted that the African immigrant, like those
from Europe, had the right to all the privileges of being American. Some
of them wanted to join the white society, accept its Euro-American
cultural values, forget their past, and assimilate into the mainstream of
American life. Still others, while wanting to find their place within the
American nation, insisted that the country must be transformed into a
genuinely pluralistic society. While they wanted to be integrated into
the nation, they did not want to join the white society. Instead of
assimilating into Anglo-Saxon culture, they wanted American civilization
to become multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and highly fluid.

The means which were proposed to achieve these differing ends were highly
diverse. Some argued that the ex-slave must first demonstrate his
readiness to be accepted within white society. Others claimed that they
need only demand the rights which were legally theirs. In order to do
this they planned to make aggressive use of the press and the courts.
Mass organization to achieve economic and political pressure was also
recommended as another technique.

There were scores of leaders representing dozens of differing positions.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the spectrum was limited
almost exclusively to the advocacy of nonviolent techniques. Four of
these leaders will be discussed below. Their ideas present a broad
overview of the concepts to be found wit