George W. Woodbey | |
|---|---|
 Woodbeyc. 1908 | |
| Born | George Washington Woodbey (1854-10-05)October 5, 1854 |
| Died | August 27, 1937(1937-08-27) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Author, minister |
| Political party | Republican Prohibition Socialist |
George Washington Woodbey (October 5, 1854 – August 27, 1937) was an influentialAfrican-Americanminister, author andSocialist. He wrote several influential papers about Socialism and African Americans, ministered in churches in theMidwestern United States andCalifornia, and served as the soleBlack delegate to theSocialist Party of America conventions in 1904 and 1908.
George Washington Woodbey was born intoslavery inJohnson County, Tennessee, on October 5, 1854, to Charles Woodbey and Rachel Wagner. He learned how to read after being freed from slavery and was mostly self-educated, but attended common school for some time. He was ordained as aBaptist minister inEmporia, Kansas, in 1874[1] He ministered in churches inNebraska,Kansas andMissouri.[2][3]
In Missouri and Kansas, Woodbey was active in theRepublican. He joined theProhibition Party and moved to Nebraska, where he was a Prohibitionist candidate forlieutenant governor and U.S. Congress. In 1896, he read Edward Bellamy'sLooking Backward and became a subscriber toAppeal to Reason.[4]
During the1900 presidential election he joined thePopulists and supportedWilliam Jennings Bryan for president. He saw speeches byEugene Debs during the campaign. The Democrats invited Woodbey to deliver speeches, but then cut him off as he was too strongly socialist.[4]
Woodbey became a member of the Socialist Party. He never took the Socialist Party to task on the question of race, even after his own nomination for vice presidential candidate was met with only one vote.[5] Woodbey believed the Socialist Party could help solveracial problems in the United States because of its emphasis on economic changes to the system. Woodbey also saw the struggle for socialism as an extension of the struggle against slavery: as the Civil War had endedchattel slavery, so would the replacement of capitalism with socialism abolishwage slavery. Woodbey directly compared the means of repression used to discipline slaves and the working class, stating: "In the days of chattel slavery the masters had a patrol force to keep the negroes in their place and protect the interests of the masters. Today the capitalists use the police for the same purpose".[6]
At the 1904 and 1908 SPA national conventions Woodbey was the only black delegate and spoke on the floor a total of six times, two in 1904 and four in 1908.[7] Ellis Jones nominated Woodbey for vice-president in 1908, but Jones was the only person that voted for him.[8] In 1912, Woodbey was a delegate to the national convention and the Socialist nominee forCalifornia State Treasurer.[9]
Woodbey also noted the emergence ofclass stratification among the black community, and expressed skepticism regarding relying on upper-class black leadership in the fight against racism, noting that whilst many believed "the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few Negroes will solve this problem... a few white men have all the wealth and the rest of their brothers are getting poorer every day". LikeEugene Debs, he was also notable for his opposition to theanti-immigrant sentiments that were commonplace in the American labor movement and the Socialist Party at the time.[6]
He promoted the causes of socialism across California and was recognized as one of the great socialist orators of the time. His ability to bring his message to the common man made him a reputation on the streets. On one occasion, Woodbey was denied access to a restaurant due to his race. He turned the situation around by putting together a successful boycott of the restaurant and hotel with the help of socialist comrades.[10][page needed]
In 1902 Woodbey moved to San Diego, where he was pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He served on the executive board of theSocialist Party of California, and traveled around the state in his work. He believed that the socialist message of helping the poor was consistent with his Christian beliefs.[11]
Because of the inflammatory nature of his message, Woodbey was in and out of jail for several years. In 1905, after one particular incident, the police hospitalized the orator. He organized a protest and went to the county jail to lodge a formal complaint. His complaint was met by being physically thrown from the building. Woodbey would then press charges of assault and battery on the officer. The case was taken to court and a jury found the defendant not guilty. The verdict was not what Woodbey was looking for, but it gave him an unexpected boost with the community. The event also allowed him to demonize the police as shills for the capitalist machine.[12][page needed]
On January 8, 1912, the city council ofSan Diego passed legislation prohibiting street-corner meetings, including religious ones, within a district of 49 blocks in the center of town claiming that these were blocking traffic. TheIndustrial Workers of the World stated that this was an attempt to suppress them. Two days before the new rules went into effect the IWW and other socialists, including Woodbey, held a meeting in the center of the restricted area, but were broken up by the police.[13]
According to Philip Foner, there is no record of Woodbey or his activities after 1915;[14] however, an article by Woodbey was printed in aChicago publication in 1909. He was said to have been active inCalifornia as late as 1923.[11]
Woodbey died inLos Angeles, California on August 27, 1937, at the home of his son William, survived by his third wife and three children.[citation needed]
ReverendGeorge W. Slater, Jr. credited Woodbey for his conversion and understanding of Socialism. Slater took the mantle of Socialism from Woodbey and continued to teach and preach his message as a disciple of the Socialist movement.[15]
The over-all equality between people in the socialist system is something that ties racial issues very close to socialism. Woodbey felt that a system of total equality would have helped African-Americans to obtain the freedoms and justice that they were denied.Woodbey argued that at the time of publication, socialism was going through a period of agitation in which many intelligent socialists were spreading the ideals and goals of socialism to create more socialists. He predicted that socialism would grow tremendously and influence governments all over the world.[15]
He describes a socialist government as needing very few laws. He argues that with equal ownership and concern for society's production, men would no longer be swayed to illegal acts for monetary gain. He proposes a system in which any citizen can propose a law, and with enough support (he suggests 5% of the population)the law would be presented for vote. If a majority were in support of it, it would become a law. Woodbey does not mention or distinguish between State and Federal government in this section. Giving each worker equal interest and shareholding in the industries in which they work creates less demand for bosses and management chains, thereby creating more laborers. Woodbey envisions a society in which, given these parameters, the majority would vote in favor of equal distribution of goods to all citizens given that all citizens are equal owners. He also envisions a severe drop in all criminal activity, and a schooling system that prepares men and women for their positions in specific industries. With equal opportunities among the people, the differences between people would disappear and rid the society of prejudice. Any citizen who does not follow the laws passed by the majority of voters would be forced to go without a living.[12][page needed][16]
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