SELF-IDENTIFICATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS AS AMERICANS: THE END OF THE 19TH – THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze the formation process of the concept «we are Americans» among the African-American community. Under the proposed concept, the popular position among African-Americans, which prevails in the USA in the realities of the ХХІ century, is considered, according to which, there can be no question of defining African-Americans as a separate ethnic or national group. African-Americans are the only component of the American nation, and using other terms to define them is inappropriate and considered a manifestation of racism. The author determined that the turning point in the formation of the proposed concept was the period of the end of the ХІХ – beginning of the ХХ century, when in the conditions of the official recognition of the freedom of African-Americans and, in parallel, the creation of segregation legislation, there was a need for self-identification as a separate nation or as an integral component the American nation. Paying attention to the speeches and works of the main figures of the African-American movement, the cultural heritage of African-Americans, their civic position, we noted that at the end of the ХІХ century. the position of autonomy prevailed. The thesis was put forward, the recognition of African-Americans as a separate component within the United States. Remaining citizens, assuming religious and social roles, African-Americans should not identify themselves with representatives of “white America”, but recognize their own identity and uniqueness and achieve similar recognition from others. An attempt has been made to prove that the conditions of the First World War, namely the entry of the USA into its course, led to a mass identification among African-Americans of themselves as an integral part of the American nation.