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(GARVEY, MARCUS.) An Appeal to the Soul of White America. Solution to the Problem of Competition between the Two Races. Negro Leader Appeals to the Conscience of White Race to Save His Own. Half-title and six unnumbered pages. Small 8vo, original boldly printed white wrappers, bound in a modern cloth chemise; some discoloration to the front cover; enclosed in a specially made 1/4 black morocco and marbled paper covered clam-shell box, with inlay of pan-African colors and title on the spine. New York: U.N.I.A., 1923
first separate edition, reprinted from the negro world. The "Appeal to the Soul of White America," forms the first 6 pages of the second volume the "Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey," edited by Garvey's wife Amy Jacques (1926). It is considered by many to be one of his most important essays; and misunderstood or misinterpreted by many. An innocent enough title, prefaced by a Biblical quote (in the published volume, thanks to Amy Jacques): "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. [Matt. v. 9]. The "Appeal" carries a message that certainly did appeal the heart and soul of white supremacists like Major Ernest Sevier Cox. It also appealed to several important Klan leaders, whom Garvey had been in contact with, just prior to going to prison. Garvey expressly negotiated with the Klan that the U.N.I.A. would oppose the NAACP's campaigns in the South in behalf of integration, housing and residential rights, and other anti-Jim Crow measures. In exchange, he hoped, in part that the KKK would help lobby the federal government -- whom Garvey believed held political beliefs very similar to those of the KKK -- to keep Garvey out of prison, or if imprisoned, to help win him a pardon. In fact, Garvey met with Cox and others while in prison in Atlanta, following his sentencing for mail fraud. Major Cox was effusive in his praise for Garvey, "I expected to see a man with bowed head; I expected to see a man depressed and unhappy and embittered, because in the meantime I had read his "Appeal to the Soul of White America," and it had touched me to the heart." (Robert Hill, Garvey Papers, Vol. VI, p.254). Cox continues "And as we discussed these matters I found that in every essential principle the ideas and ideals of Marcus Garvey were identical with those of the organization which I have the honor to represent---the Anglo Saxon Clubs of America." [Cox dedicated his book "Let My People Go" (1925) to Garvey.] The arrest in 1923 and imprisonment of Marcus Garvey in 1925, together with the publication of details of his meetings with Klan leaders, lost Garvey tens of thousands of followers. Many influential black leaders like W. E.B. Du Bois and A. Philip Randolph had already distanced themselves from him. And, when one considers the fact that there was hardly an African American family anywhere in the United States that did not have some personal experience with the Klan, it is not surprising that many left the fold. In the end, it was Garvey's mis-reading of the African American experience that led to his downfall, more than any indictments or criminal charges. Garvey's "Appeal" had more white fans it seems than black. African Americans, by and large did not want to leave the country they had such deep roots in and had fought so hard for in four wars. Only 6 copies are located by OCLC.
