JOURNEY OF HOPE: BACK-TO-AFRICA MOVEMENT IN ARKANSAS IN THE LATE 1800s
After thorough research and collection of data from interviews and secondary sources, Kenneth C. Barnes gives an insight of the aspirations and deep emotions of about 600 African American who decided to immigrate back to Liberia. Barnes illustrates how this African Americans were oppressed and deprived of their rights after the reenactment of regulations that came after the civil war. The whites resulted to lynching and the Ku Klux Klan actions that lead the African Americans opt for emigration. 1
The book, “Journey of Hope: Back-To-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s,” narrates the plight of the African Americans in nine chapters. The first four chapters give a history of the movement and concludes with the disfranchisement of the blacks and worsened living conditions motivating them to seek refuge in their ancestral lands. Ironically, Arkansas had been initially considered a haven by the blacks fleeing oppression from the south. However, the Reconstruction of 1877 rekindled the desire of blacks to move back to Africa. 2
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As early as the 19th century, the population of African American settlers in America rose drastically, owing to the fact that they had been freed from slavery. In order to survive, they started looking for jobs with some moving to the south and others to the northern parts of America. Their white counterparts did not take the progress happily. Instead, they believed that the black people were not entitled to, nor should not share the same resources with the Whites. This led to the rise of many riots, especially in the urban areas. 3
The rioting caused many deaths among both the black and the white people. As a result, the back-to-Africa movement was introduced as a solution to benefit both parties. However, the blacks viewed the movement as a way of the whites trying to keep them from progressing. They saw they're going back to Africa as a set back into slavery. Furthermore, the African Americans who had gone back to Africa had been faced with challenges such as broken family ties, diseases, culture shock and high mortality rates. Barnes narrates, “After my first night in Liberia, as I counted the mosquito bites on my arms and legs, I contemplated the mortality rate of the Arkansas emigrants.” 4
Liberia was a country of interest since it had gained its independence in 1847. The government promised to give land to any black person who came back from slavery. The blacks saw this land as a place of hope from the oppression of slavery and racism in America. It was a place to start over after giving up all the hope they had. The whites from South America also pressured Liberia to take in their freed slaves. Liberia offered equality and freedom, and a chance for a better life.
After the United States civil war, the back-to-Africa movement had declined in popularity. This however changed after the Reconstruction worsening the living conditions of the African Americans. White people did all they could to make sure lives of the blacks were miserable, including denying them voting rights. A Methodist preacher, Anthony L. Stanford requested to have blacks moved to Africa. He then began moving small groups of blacks to Liberia. 5 Later, the 1888 and 1890 elections led to the disfranchising of the blacks and poor whites. The scenario was worsened by the Jim Craw segregation laws and the worst form of lynching in Arkansas. 6
The failure of the government to protect the blacks caused the 600 Arkansas to seek refuge in Liberia. The back-to-Africa movement in itself caused a contradiction that while the blacks saw America as a nightmare, the land was a paradise to European immigrants. Liberia which was considered a promised land then became a hell to the blacks from 1890 to 2003. Barnes illustrates that the catastrophe eventually led to Liberians of American origin seeking refuge in the United States.
Barnes clearly argues out the two points of views of the African American leaders. On one hand, leaders such as Anthony L. Stanford, Joseph C. Sherrill, and Henry McNeal Turner supported the back-to-Africa movement. These leaders not only saw the movement as a redemption but also a way to spread Christianity into Africa. On the other hand, leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Fredrick Douglas opposed the movement claiming that it was not the solution to turn to.
Barnes’ title of his book, “Journey of Hope” clearly illustrates the redemption the black people of Arkansas were longing for after the harsh living conditions they faced in America. Liberia was their last resort. A chance to a better life. A chance to experience freedom and equality. After overcoming the challenges of transitioning back to their motherland, the Black Arkansas finally get rewarded for persevering.
Bibliography
Barnes, Kenneth C. Journey of Hope: the Back-to-Africa movement in Arkansas in the late 1800s . University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
