Author: Christian Morales
A calm and relaxed atmosphere pervaded Mosher Hall as students settled in with their coffee cups and to-go meals, eager to listen, learn and engage with Professor James Ford’s lecture “The New Day: Notes on the Dark Proletariat and (Mis)Education.”
Professor Ford hoped that his lecture would demonstrate to Occidental students that racial oppression and economic exploitation do still exist, and it is college students’ responsibility to challenge their oppressor.
Ford began his lecture by emphasizing that African-American literature is about something human.
“African-American literature is for all students, not just those of color,” Ford said.
As Professor Ford continued his lecture, he defined the relationship between the 1930s African-American artists and the college student. Both groups are objectified as the Dark Proletariat – a term used to define those who are oppressed in contemporary society.
Ford said 1930s African-American literature demonstrates the Dark Proletariat’s struggle against their narrative. One piece of African-American literature that Ford used as evidence was Langston Hughes’ poem “Demand.” In the poem, Hughes is trying to empower and spark action, urging others to take a stand against oppression.
“Both free persons and college students are forms of the Dark Proletariat,” Ford said, following his deconstruction of “Demand.”
He contended that what distinguishes free persons from college students is that the free persons’ awareness of their oppressor enables them to separate themselves from the Dark Proletariat. In contrast, current college students cannot escape the Dark Proletariat because of their inability to recognize economic and racial oppression.
Professor Ford noted that the contemporary college student is a consumer; society treats students as a means to make a profit with little concern for the students’ economic future. Specifically, Ford discussed the irony of a liberal arts education in relation to Occidental College, and how an Occidental College student must pay nearly $60,000 per year in exchange for access to all facets of learning.
The college student is also a contemporary form of the Dark Proletariat through racial oppression. Ford explained that society continues to instill the notion that the current college student no longer needs to fight for racial equality and equity. As a result, when current college students are faced with racial oppression, they do not know how to act.
Professor Ford hopes that college students will free themselves from the Dark Proletariat and use their free will, like Langston Hughes’ poem “Demand,” as a way to act against the racial and economic oppressions that persist in society.
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