In his effort to elaborate the reasons for the built-up illusions and myths which have led to the “crisis” of his book, Mr. Cruse is himself ensnared by a myth, namely, that given Harlem all to themselves, the Negroes can create a viable way of life politically and economically, and more important, a kind of culture that will not only be equal to, but will surpass the dominant white (WASP) culture— or lack of it—in the land.
Since Mr. Cruse does not claim to be an economist (he demands only that “a new school of economics be devised”) it would hardly be fair to point out to him that, by themselves, the Negroes in Harlem, made up in the main of fatherless families on relief (a subject he does not touch on at all in his book), are hardly in a position to compete with the broader segments of the general population, much less with that achievement-oriented minority which he tries to understand, but which eludes him as it does so many of the potentates of the world. Actually, all he would seem to be calling for is a reaffirmation of that cultural, political, and economic identity expounded by the great genius of the Negro race, Booker T. Washington, the only black man the author unabashedly endorses.
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