The Study of the Negro Problems

Abstract

This article proposes an agenda of sociological research for studying the issues facing the black population in the United States. The first section describes the way in which these issues have developed as a product of the exploitative relationships within the slavery system. The second evaluates the current problems of the black population in the process of the formation of the State after emancipation, among which the deficient economic situation and the impossibility of equalizing the social efficiency of blacks with the other social groups in the nation stand out. The third section discusses the need to study the problems of the black population carefully, while the fourth describes the work that has been done along these lines. Finally, the fifth section proposes a program of study for the future, one which the State and academia appear to be the institutions best equipped to lead.