William Monroe Trotter was an early Twentieth
Century radical for the cause of racial equality. Of course, what was radical
in 1910 is accepted wisdom in 2015. Among his most memorable activities were
his conflict with Woodrow Wilson over segregation in the federal departments of
government, his agitation against the film “Birth of a Nation,” his organizing
with The Niagara Movement (precursor to the NAACP) and his reporting from the Paris
Peace Conference.
The main instrument for Trotter’s opinions was a newspaper
that he founded in 1901 with George Forbes, called The Guardian. Publications created by and for African Americans
were few, and played an important role in both informing and organizing the
populace. This newspaper was founded
primarily in response to the accommodationist politics of Booker T. Washington,
and remained a thorn in the side of this famous educator throughout his career.
Trotter, as editor, hounded Washington for his unwillingness to address
lynching (Fox, p. 27), segregation (Fox, p. 34) and the loss of voting rights
for southern African Americans (Fox, p. 36). When Washington’s influence was
eclipsed by the rise of the NAACP, African Americans finally had a superior
advocate for their rights.
If Trotter had limited his criticism to Washington,
history would have vindicated his perspective. “But he had the strong man’s
flaw: his bulldog tenacity could often become a prickly stubbornness…Compromise
was not flexibility, but cowardice. Other men were either manly or unmanly,
with him or against him. These qualities made him an admirable spokesman for
the protest tradition, but hamstrung his personal relationships.” (Fox, pp.
64-5). Trotter was unable to accept that a movement is a body with many organs
that function for the well-being of the entire organism. As a result, he
eventually alienated almost all of the important radicals whose perspectives he
shared. WEB Du Bois, Archibald Grimke, George Forbes, Clement Morgan and William
Ferris, all were one-time allies who deserted Trotter. This is a sad and
frustrating theme in the book: while African Americans are losing many rights,
facing a resurgent KKK and enduring an increase in lynching, Trotter is wasting
movement energy on infighting.
Stephen R. Fox, for his part, does a heroic job of
reporting on this important but difficult figure. He does his best to balance
the editor’s valuable work and his difficult personality. But even the most
saintly biographer cannot avoid editorializing about such flagrant personality
deficits, as when he parenthetically discusses the activist’s “larger problem
of subordinating his ego sufficiently to admit mistakes and remain on good
terms with anyone whom he did not control.” (Fox, p. 118). At least one cannot
accuse Fox of hagiography.
Despite William Monroe Trotter’s personal flaws
there is much to recommend him. He put forth the then unpopular (now accepted)
idea that African American organizations should be run primarily by African
Americans in order to empower them. Even
the NAACP of his time had a majority of white men on its board. As a Harvard
graduate from a well-off family, he had the opportunity for material comfort.
But he “relinquished a comfortable, respectable existence” for a life that
“brought him poverty…For over thirty years he genuinely put his people’s
welfare above his own. And the tragedy of his life is that he died without much
assurance that his dedication had been worth it.” (Fox, pp. 281-2).
Fox, Stephen R. The Guardian of Boston. William
Monroe Trotter. New York: Atheneum, 1970.
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