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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - Introduction - 4. Not an Isolated Problem - 5. Some Further Notes on the Scope and Direction of this Study
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Introduction Iv
can society and the Negro problem. If the reader is equally careful he will,
however, also remember that, at least in the present stage of social research,
it is next to impossible to judge rationally our most general assumptions
concerning a civilization. The possibility always remains, therefore, that on
some points he is wrong, and I am right. But a good result will in any
case be reached, as we shall have determined the locus of fundamental dis-
agreement, and thus we shall be better prepared to direct further research
toward its scientific solution.
These assumptions are all, in a sense, subjective. I have, naturally, tried
to acquire as objectively true an understanding of America and the Ameri-
can Negro as I am capable of reaching. And, equally naturally, it would
be most fortunate to the investigation if these main assumptions approached
objective truth and were relevant to the problems under study. But they
are, of course, not proved; they are not part of scientifically verified truth.
The only definite statement I can make is that the picture is subjectively
^‘true”; that is, that it faithfully represents what the author, upon careful
consideration, believes to be true.
5. Some Further Notes on the Scope and
Direction of this Study
This book is an analysis, not a description. It presents facts only for the
sake of their meaning in the interpretation. Since, however, an attempt at
a comprehensive analysis was made, the scope of the facts, even when com-
pressed into outline form, is extensive, though, we hope, selective. The
author had available not only the vast existing published literature, but
also some specially prepared research memoranda, a portion of which are
being published, and all of which are made available to the inquiring
reader.*
On the theoretical
^
side, the aim of this book is to formulate tentative
generalizations on the basis of known facts. A corollary of this scientific
task is to indicate gaps in knowledge. These gaps will be noted in passing,
and in some respects positive suggestions for investigation will be offered.
Undoubtedly, we shall sometimes be found to have overlooked existing
sources. In view of the scope of the investigation this is inevitable but,
nevertheless, regrettable.
As the known and verified facts are scarce, a courageous use will be made
of the writer^s own observations. Their conjectural character will always
be made explicit. They are the author^s best judgments, when published data
* A list of these will be found in the Preface. The unpublished memoranda can be
consulted in the Schomburg Collection of the New York Public Library.
^The terms theoretical and fradical (or folitical) are used in this book as in the
discipline of philosophy. The former word implies thinking in terms of causes and effects;
the latter words imply thinking in terms of means and ends. (Sec Appendix 2, Section 4.)
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