ABSTRACT

Rooming in the Master's House is a strikingly original portrait of the black conservative movement by two of the most celebrated African American scholars. Asante and Hall show that today's black conservative movement can be traced to the original class and social distinctions created during slavery when certain Africans were given positions in the master's house and consequently felt that they were better than the Africans who worked in the fields. Using historical and social sources, the authors weave a narrative explaining how the house Negro syndrome continues in current discourses on the black community and in American Politics.

chapter Chapter 1|24 pages

Slave Psychology

The Shape of Race Relations

chapter Chapter 2|24 pages

Field Negroes and House Negroes

chapter Chapter 3|30 pages

House Negroes and the Crisis of Identity

chapter Chapter 4|28 pages

The Conservative Political Agenda

chapter Chapter 5|28 pages

Self-Mutilation in the Master's House

chapter Chapter 6|20 pages

Extending the Metaphors

Conservatives and Liberals