Black Sociology

The American Sociologist (2024) 55:38–58
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-023-09601-3
Black Sociology: Toward a Theoretical Analysis of Systems

of Oppression and Social Power
Kalasia Ojeh1
Accepted: 1 November 2023 / Published online: 8 December 2023

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023
Abstract
Black Sociology has reemerged as a vital scientific endeavor to understand the social con-
ditions of Black people. One approach to Black Sociology identifies five principles that
are rooted in the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory (ASL) at Atlanta University. Another
approach permits scholars to use any Black scholar from the Black intellectual tradition
and apply it to sociological phenomena. While both approaches provide generative ana-
lytical lenses, they do not engage one another leaving the utility of Black sociology bifur-
cated, without clear theoretical and methodological boundaries. Reviewing 20 ASL pub-
lications, I articulate seven principles that define Black sociology as the scientific analysis
of systems of oppression and social power developed at ASL. To do this, I add a validity
principle, a Black sociological standpoint, and a practitioner principle that clearly defines
Black Sociology’s intellectual boundaries as a scientific/intellectual movement.
Keywords Black Sociology · Race · Power · Oppression · Systems
Introduction
Recently, the field of sociology has experienced a scholarly push for Black Sociol-
ogy (Brooks & Wright II, 2021; Clair, 2022; Daniels & Wright, 2018; Hunter, 2018;
Wright II, 2020). Black Sociology as a distinct subfield within sociology provides
fertile intellectual ground to introduce and discuss Black intellectual voices that pro-
vide methods to ameliorate oppression against Black people (Wright II, & Calhoun,
2006; Wright II & Wallace, 2019; Wright, 2020). While the incorporation of these
once-marginalized voices is important, the multitude of divergent ideologies have
left Black Sociology with asymmetrical theoretical and methodological approaches.
Wright II (2020) argues that Black sociology encompasses five principles that
focus on research conducted by and about Black people grounded in the Atlanta
Sociological Laboratory (ASL) at Atlanta University (p. 6–10). Another approach
* Kalasia Ojeh
[email protected]
1
Department of Political, Social, and Cultural Sciences, Kean University, Union, NJ, USA
1Vol:.(1234567890)
3
The American Sociologist (2024) 55:38–58 39
which I title the Black scholars’ approach, reviews the individual works of Black
Sociologists (Jack, 2018) and Scholars (Allen, 2018; Reese, 2018) and discusses
the value their work provides to sociological thinking. Both approaches have
become the dominant forms to implement a contemporary Black Sociological
approach and have yet to systematically interact with one another under a cohe-
sive Black sociological tradition.
In this paper, I argue that these current Black sociological approaches must engage
one another, under one framework, to establish a scientific and contemporary Black
sociology. The importance of interaction between the two approaches also sets a cri-
terion for inclusion that the Black scholars’ unrestrictive standard has yet to develop.
More specifically, the Black scholars approach does not make clear the distinctive-
ness of Black Sociology as a subfield, with a rich tradition of theoretical, methodo-
logical, and praxis-based scholarship from the ASL as the principles approach does.
The Black scholars approach also does not distinguish Black Sociology from Black
sociologists’ thought, mainstream sociology, and now a burgeoning Du Boisian Soci-
ology (Morris, 2015; Itzigsohn & Brown, 2020; Wright II, 2016). Black sociology
requires intellectual boundaries and grounding because it is connected to a school of
sociological inquiry not just individual scholars.
I also add that a contemporary Black sociological approach needs updated prin-
ciples that showcase the resources, assets, structures, and agency behind its theo-
retical, methodological, and practitioner-based framework. To clarify Black Sociol-
ogy’s theoretical and methodological approaches, I return to the ASL publications,
which were the original Black sociologists and sociological educational institutions
to do Black sociology before the term was coined by Joyce Ladner in 1973 (Wright
II & Calhoun, 2006). In their sociological publications, the ASL listed evidence-
based theories, referred to as resolutions or conclusions, to explain and respond to
the present conditions of Black people. I restructure Wright II’s five principles of
Black sociology as seven, adding a theoretical and a standpoint principle. I provide
amended and new Black sociology principles below:
1. Defines Black sociology as the scientific analysis of systems of oppression and

social power.
2. Avoid race deficit approaches derived from mainstream sociology.
3. The research centers on the experiences of Black Americans and people of Afri-
can descent throughout the Diaspora.
4. The research implements an interdisciplinary and community-based approach.
5. Research about Black people is understood as contextually valid and valuable to
scientific research.
6. Scholars use their scholarship to promote social change through social policy and
practitioner engagement.
7. The research is conducted by scholars who implement a Black sociological standpoint.
Identifying ASL publications as the classical Black sociological tradition clari-

fies the historical record and theoretical development of Black sociology as a social
institution within a scientific/intellectual movement (SIM) (Frickel & Gross, 2005).
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40 The American Sociologist (2024) 55:38–58
To build my seven principles of Black Sociology, I overview the historical and con-
temporary developments of Black Sociology through mainstream sociology, Black
sociological thought, and Du Boisian Sociology. I then argue that ASL’s resolutions
and conclusions are Black sociology’s theoretical and methodological foundation. I
end with the importance of ASL’s Black sociological theory and standpoint to scien-
tific research today.
Literature Review
Black Sociology Versus White (Mainstream) Sociology
Black Sociology was coined in the seminal text, The Death of White Sociology
(DWS) (Ladner, 1973; 1998). This text was important because it provided an alternative
framework that did not follow mainstream sociology’s use of racism in its theory-
building and research design. Sparked by the Civil Rights movement, Joyce Lad-
ner and other scholars defined Black Sociology as an act of liberation as opposed
to oppression (Alkamit, 1973, 1998; Ladner, 1973, 1998). Their analysis of main-
stream sociology showcased that white sociologists’ value neutrality never existed,
and their subjective notions of race, culture, and attainment were guises for domi-
nation, oppression, and white supremacy. Outside the purview of mainstream soci-
ology, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) operated as spaces
for refuge and social upliftment where Black Sociology could thrive (Steve Jr.,
2017). For example, HBCU graduate Alkamit (1973, 1998) argued that terms like
Segregation, Tokenism, Integration, and Equality which were developed within
mainstream sociology were” mere handservants” (p. 178) to ideologies of white
assimilation. Alkamit (1973, 1998) points out that the need for Black social science
stemmed from the social sciences generating theory from an ideological standpoint
that “white people have been [the] standard for all of our goals” (p. 181). Black
Sociology became a corrective science that recognized and provided a framework to
articulate the limitations of racism implemented within mainstream white sociology.
The need for correction from Black Sociology was against the Chicago School of
Sociology’s (CS) constant racist “scientific theories” that Black people and Blackness
were inherently, innately, biologically, and socially inferior to white people and white-
ness (Brunsma & Padilla Wyse, 2019; Saint-Arnaud, 2009). For example, CS sociolo-
gist and former president of the American Sociological Association, Edwards Reuter
(1938) theorized race through Black people’s experience as savages and empty vessels
with little to no impact on the world (p. 5). In Reuter’s construction of race, Black peo-
ple had no achievements, no value, and no culture to guard. This was due to Reuters
theorizing on Black people as servile barbarians only gaining value from white people
through enslavement. Similarly, Robert E. Park, another CS sociologist, also held anti-
black sentiments. He (1950) writes:
…the conception of the Negro, according to which he was predestined by God
and nature, to be forever a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, a servant of
13
servants unto his brethren. There is evidence to show that on the whole, the
black man accepted the position to which the white man assigned him. (p. 234)
For Reuter and Park, theorizing about Black people stemmed from understanding
their servile and enslaved status. White people provided a culture and humanity to
Black people that could not develop without their support. These leading scholars’
unscientific and unfounded theories were adopted as the foundation to which the
sociology of race and ethnicity developed today. For the DWS scholars, Park and
other CS sociologists, “developed the best liberal white game to run on black peo-
ple” (Alkamit, 1973; 1998, p. 20) such as University of Chicago (UC) trained Black
sociologists like E. Franklin Frazier (Frazier, 1948). To support UC theories on race
and relations, mainstream sociology assumes that blatant bias in research is not only
objective but the science of sociology.
Further, Robert E. Park, deemed the father of race relations, also created unsci-
entific theories, catalyzing the development of Black Sociology. Unlike ASL, Park’s
Chicago school of sociology did not systematically investigate racial groups. As
Lyman (1968) points out:
Park did not carry out any full-scale study of ethnic groups to see whether
his cycle approximated reality. In 1926 a team of researchers, led by Park
made an attempt to carry out this race relations survey. Over and over their
reports provided evidence contradicting the direction, and indeed, the opera-
tion of the proffered cycle. Although often regarded as a theory, Park’s cycle is
most fruitful if regarded as a model…It fails as a theory because of its built-in
unfalsifiability.” (p. 16,18)
This faulty theorizing of assimilation has been adopted and replicated since its
inception even though Park never truly studied successfully ethnic assimilation.
Thus, the establishment of mainstream sociology’s understanding of race and eth-
nicity, derives from subjective beliefs that transformed unfalsifiable theories into
"scientific" models (Lyman, 1968). From this social process, research on race,
assimilation, urban sociology, demography, and status attainment evolved to main-
tain the notion that Black people were inferior to White people. However, the ASL
recognized a new approach to doing sociology that omitted biological deterministic
theories and cultural-deficit logics. Reuter and Park’s theories regarding Black peo-
ple were not theories, they were indoctrinated unscientific propaganda.
Black Sociology Versus Black Sociologists and Scholars
Just as Black DWS sociologists were actively working to define Black Sociology,
other scholars were already discrediting the development of Black sociology. In
Black Sociologists: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (BSHCP), the leading
editors, James Blackwell and Morris Janowitz (1974), and other scholars in the vol-
ume argued there was no distinction between Black Sociology and Sociology (p. xix).
Blackwell and Janowitz (1974) states:
13
“To speak of “Black Sociologists” requires an examination of an intellec-

tual dilemma: is there one sociology or is there a special category of Black
Sociology?...I myself did not believe that there was a white sociology and a
black sociology, although I am fully aware of the psychological and social dis-
tortions that can systematically enter any organized effort at social research.
After the conference and after editing this volume, I remain convinced that the
distinction is not a viable one.” (p. xvi)
Blackwell’s assertion that there is no distinction between mainstream sociology
and Black sociology changed the focus of the subfield to individual works (Hare,
1974). It also slowed the development and theory building of the subfield. By doing
so, scholars focused on what Black sociologists theorized, rather than the utility of
the school of thought that Black Sociology provided. As I will discuss, Black Soci-
ology is not just the works of individual Black Scholars’ contributions to sociology.
It is the collective efforts of Black sociologists and other scholars who are dedicated
to understanding the social construction of racism and power mobilized by Black
folks. Blackwell and others positioned Black sociology as obsolete and focused on
individuals rather than acknowledging the institutionalized Black sociological prac-
tices within the field (Wright II, 2020). Specifically, contributors argued that Black
scholars could use these CS race relations theories to explain the social conditions
of Black people. This position however reproduced mainstream logics, positioning
Black sociology as futile within social scientific research.
Black Sociology Principles Versus Black Scholars Approach
Despite the claim that mainstream sociology was no different from Black Sociology,
scholars pushed to connect the ASL tradition to Black Sociology (Wright II & Calhoun,
2006; Wright II & Wallace, 2019; and Wright II, 2020). Wright II and Calhoun (2006)
galvanized the importance of Black sociology within Atlanta University’s sociological
laboratory-the term scholars like Du Bois and Dill (1912) used to explain their work
(p. 3). They argued that Black Sociology did not stem from the civil rights movement
as Ladner suggests, but the ASL. Before this, scholars envisioned Black sociology
as the works of individual scholars, disconnected from a school of sociology. Wright
and Calhoun (2006) reinvigorated Black sociology by identifying five principles that
would characterize the subfield: (1) The research be conducted primarily by Black
American Scholars, (2) The research centers on the experiences of Black Americans,
(3) The research efforts of Black sociology be interdisciplinary, (4) The findings,
whenever possible, be generalizable beyond Black Americans, and (5) The findings
whenever possible produce data that could have social policy implications (p. 6–10).
They argued that ASL was an institutional enterprise, not just the works of individual
scholars. In this way, Wright II and Calhoun fermented and re-established that
Black sociology was a subfield of sociology. Their work became fundamental to the
importance of Black Sociology today.
Continuing in these principles, Wright II and Wallace (2014, 5) in their edited
volume and Wright II’s (2020, p. 6) Jim Crow Sociology: The Black and Southern
Roots of American Sociology make two important updates to Black Sociology. First
13
Wright II and Wallace (2019) argue that Black Sociology is a distinct subfield and
does not follow mainstream sociology because of its non-deficit approach (p. 5).
Second, Wright II (2020) argued that Black sociology’s definition presented a pro-
agency approach to the study of people of African descent (6). Other scholars joined
in the reclamation of Black sociology’s theoretical and practical contributions to
the field. Pierre Saint-Arnaud (2009) also argued that African American Sociology
was an emancipatory sociology that did not theorize racial bias (p. 8). Brooks and
Wright (2021) define Black Sociology as knowledge creation and knowledge dis-
semination (p. 318). In it, the scholars argued that knowledge should be used for
social change and propaganda to help Black folks. This general push for Black Soci-
ology has renewed sociological endeavors.
This continued conversation between Black Sociology versus Black Sociolo-
gists replicated amongst contemporary scholars nearly paralleling the 1970s debate.
Scholars in the edited volume The New Black Sociologists, push for the inclusion of
Black Scholars as valuable sources of knowledge to Black sociology. They point out
the role of Zora Neale Hurston whose scholarly work supports black agency (Reese,
2018), Stuart Hall’s sociological analysis of race with media representations within
popular culture (Hunter, 2018), and the importance of “race, gender, and class…[as]
insights into inequality that are absent otherwise” (Collins, 2018, 111). All these
scholars provide new sources of sociological thinking to Black sociology. I argue
though that Black sociology is not just rooted in individual efforts with different and
non-congruent epistemological standpoints. Black sociology is rooted in the efforts
of the Atlanta sociological tradition. When scholars add these new Black scholars
into Black Sociology without recognizing the works and tradition of Atlanta Uni-
versity, they inadvertently erase the foundation of Black sociology. It is analogous to
discussing class exploitation and not talking about Marxian scholars. Black sociolo-
gists who attempt to incorporate Black thinkers would benefit from the Black socio-
logical principles as a proxy for Black sociological thought.
Black Sociology Versus Du Boisian Sociology
Scholars analyzing Du Bois’s work argue that Du Boisian Sociology is distinct from
Black Sociology (Brown & Itzigsohn, 2020; Morris, 2015) because it goes beyond
Black Americans, failing to recognize the faulty racial logics being applied to Du
Boisian scholarship. Two texts in particular, The Scholar Denied by Aldon Morris
and The Sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois by Jose Itzigsohn and Karida Brown, estab-
lished that Du Bois’s scientific efforts at Atlanta University as a scholar warrants
a Du Boisian school of sociology/Du Boisian Sociological tradition. They argue
that Du Bois theorized the social construction of race as both a social and cultural
phenomenon that upholds a global color line. For these texts, Du Boisian Sociol-
ogy is not just about the American-based color line, but the global context in which
a racialized superior white and non-white people exist that develop in modernity.
They further argue that Du Boisian Sociology did not just focus on Black people but
went beyond Black Americans and therefore Black sociology (Morris, p. 2015, 48,
Itzigsohn & Brown, 2020, p. 99).
13
However, Du Boisian sociology was developed by conducting research from a Black

sociological lens. For these scholars to posit that Du Boisian Sociology is global because
it moves beyond Black Americans, creates the same faulty white logic that Black Ameri-
cans are not worthy of scientific endeavor, that Chicago school sociologists pushed
mainstream to adopt. Instead, I argue that Black Sociology as a distinct field influenced
and played an integral part in the development of Du Boisian sociology and vice versa.
Based on the provided review, I present seven updated principles that support Black
Sociology’s rich tradition in the ASL and new research contemporarily.
This paper furthers the argument that Wright II (2020) articulated that Black
Sociology originated in the Atlanta Sociological tradition and was not just a reaction
to the civil rights movement as others argued (Ladner, 1973; 1998). Rather, Black
Sociology’s origin is in response to mainstream sociology’s unscientific theoriz-
ing about sociology, race, and social structures during its inception. Scholars at the
preeminent Chicago School of Sociology posited non-whites, especially Black peo-
ple, as not worthy of scientific endeavor, or from a deficit approach which Atlanta
University vehemently opposed and empirically proved was incorrect.
This paper makes the original contribution that Black Sociology is one example of
a scientific/intellectual movement (Frickel & Gross, 2005). Black Sociological thought
coincides with the “era of self-help,” where Black people, organizations, and institutions
adopted a “philosophy born…in pride in heritage and appreciation of unique cultural
traditions, institutions, and creative expressions” (Franklin & Higginbotham, 2011: 288).
Under the horrific and enduring practices of the Jim Crow South, leaders, scholars, and
students at Atlanta University resisted the ideology of the “Negro’s Place” (Franklin &
Higginbotham, 2011: p. 288) and instead argued for narratives of racial progress. The
ASL’s empirical research, as a scientific/intellectual movement, opposed mainstream
sociology and birthed what scholars can now theorize as Black Sociology.
The Black Sociological Tradition
I argue that Black Sociology as a distinct field of sociology requires an updated

theoretical definition, standpoint, and principles that consider the classical black
sociological tradition at Atlanta University as well as the contemporary black socio-
logical tradition cemented by Wright II and Calhoun (2006) and Wright II (2020)
and others. To do this, I analyze all 20 Atlanta University Publications and one Du
Bois publication (1903b) to construct the following principles for Black Sociology:
(1) Defines Black sociology as the scientific analysis of systems of oppression and
social power. (2) Avoid race deficit approaches derived from mainstream sociol-
ogy. (3) The research centers on the experiences of Black Americans and people of
African descent throughout the Diaspora. (4) The research implements an interdisci-
plinary and community-based approach. (5) Research about Black people is under-
stood as contextually valid and valuable to scientific analysis. (6) Black sociological
scholars use their scholarship to promote social change that includes social policy
and practitioners. (7) The research is conducted by scholars who implement a Black
sociological standpoint. I address each principle below.
13
Defines Black Sociology as the Scientific Analysis of Systems of Oppression

and Social Power
The first principle defines Black sociology as the scientific analysis of systems of oppres-
sion and social power. ASL scholars investigated the relationship between multiple levels
of racism embedded in the U.S. social structure and Black people’s ability to mobilize
resources and organize support to mitigate the effect of racism through social power. Du
Bois defines social power as the ability for groups and individuals to “survive…organ-
ize,” and develop social forces that can lead to social advancement and uplift (Du Bois,
1903b). Throughout twenty publications, ASL researched Black people’s social relations
within social institutions like healthcare, education, and the labor market, to see how
their experiences impacted their life chances. Their research showcased how people of
African descents’ actions, organizations, and structures engaged with structural forces of
racism, discrimination, and oppression.
To understand Black sociology’s theoretical relationship, the ASL used research
to develop their social power. By studying systems of oppression, ASL could find
empirical evidence for ways to galvanize social power. This was one of ASL’s first
theories or resolutions for Black sociology in 1897: “that the investigations thus
far made show the necessity for continuing the search for exact data on a large
scale with a view to ascertaining more definitely the causes and seeking out and
applying remedies for existing conditions (Atlanta University, 1897, p. 51). Since
its inception, ASL recognized that systems of oppression were evident for a mass
of individuals who were enslaved. Their transition out of enslavement would be
marked with difficulties. However, the basis of Black sociology was to conduct
research to understand the processes of social forces that limit the opportunities
for social power or remedies to existing conditions. This theory was seen through-
out all Atlanta University Publications as an introduction to the duty of Atlanta
University to seek to understand the general conditions of Black people. Du Bois
in his writing about Atlanta University furthered this idea about social power
regarding Black people.
For example, ASL argued that the U.S.-based criminal justice system created
two punitive systems: one racially just for people designated white and one racially
unjust system for people designated as non-white. Specifically, ASL argued that the
criminal justice system incriminated Black folks which they then theorized that it
was this systems of racial inequality that contributed to the high rate of criminal-
ity. The editors of the ninth Publication, Some Notes on Negro Crime Particularly
in Georgia, wrote that Black people, especially Black women dealt with “unfair
aggression” from White people (Du Bois, 1909, p. 65). This systemic form of rac-
ism allowed ASL to argue that systems of oppression exist but so do structures and
systems of social support for Black people.
While racism was the very fabric of the criminal justice system the ASL theo-
rized that research-based evidence could challenge the maintenance of racism.
Specifically, their research could alter and thus empower Black people’s lives,
even in a system of inequality that was built to destroy them. While the criminal
justice system continued to destroy Black life, the ASL decided to conduct socio-
logical research and provide empirically-based solutions to respond to the injustice
13
of criminal justice. In their resolutions, ASL appealed to White people asking to

change how the criminal justice system operated (Du Bois, 1909). White people did
not provide Black citizens fair criminal laws, justice in the courts, and the aboli-
tionment of state traffic for public and private gains. These were social processes
within the criminal justice system that were viewed as mechanisms of social control
over black bodies. However, understanding the structure of criminal justice created
opportunities to develop social power. ASL theorized two ways to slow down the
impacts of the criminal justice system: through collecting empirical data to suggest
social policy implications and Black-led institutions.
But Du Bois (1909) and ASL scholars found that Black institutions were already
galvanizing resources to mitigate the effect of the criminal justice system, “Four
agencies among Negroes may work toward this end: the church, the school, institu-
tions for rescue work, and the juvenile reformatory” (p. 51). In this way, the spaces
in which Black people occupied and organized held social power within them. Even
if it was small, it was enough to propel them forward. This understanding of social
power within Black structures became paramount to avoiding non-deficit approaches
and theorizing the unique ways in which oppressed social groups can develop theo-
ries of social change and build social structures. Their recognition that systems of
oppression are not absolute and can be created and destroyed, demonstrates the ana-
lytical power of Black sociology.
Further, the ASL’s publications exhibit this often undertheorized, yet important
Black sociological theory of the relationship between systems of oppression and
systems of agentic power when it comes to people of African descent in the United
States. Their research argued that the presence of systems of oppression are usu-
ally met with structures of opposition, change, and equilibrium that a Black socio-
logical approach could empirically study. But those systems of oppression at times
mask the smaller yet enduring social actions that lead to larger social changes which
sociological scholarship sees as just narratives of racial progress (Ray et al, 2017)
and racial organizations of resistance (Ray, 2019)-they are evidence of social power
within people of African descent (Du Bois, 1903a).
Avoid Race Deficit Approaches Derived from Mainstream Sociology
The second principle avoids race deficit approaches when researching people of Afri-
can descent. For a majority of the ASL publications, theories that emanated from the
Black experience were developed from research that did not place being a Black person
as an inferior subhuman. As stated earlier, theories about Black people coming from
mainstream sociology positioned Black people as not only inferior but powerless. For
ASL, Black people were not inferior. Theorized explicitly in the eleventh publication,
The Health and Physique of the Negro American the ASL did not argue that biological
or physical differences existed between Black and white people (Du Bois, 1906). With
a compilation of theories by Richard Wright Jr. and Franz Boas, they wrote “The con-
ference does not find any adequate scientific warrant for the assumption that the Negro
race is inferior to other races in physical build or vitality. The present differences in
mortality to be sufficiently explained by conditions of life…” (Du Bois, 1906, p.110).
13
Their Black sociological approach unearthed the social construction of inequality in

social institutions. They did not contrive the Black experience as less than any other
group because they found scientific evidence of social forces impacting their social
reality. Understanding social conditions could also uncover the social structures that
Black people built to acquire resources, even if they were limited. The Black Church,
schools, and the women’s club movement have been vital sources of power to which
ASL research was able to decipher.
The importance of non-deficit approaches to studying Black people is to under-
stand that Black people do have power. This was not even a thought in mainstream
sociology which constantly purported Black people were inferior (Park, 1950). The
ASL examined the everyday existence of Black people and found that the space for
galvanizing power came in different structural forms. The first structure of Black
power was the church. The church became a source of alternate meaning for Black
people. As the editor writes, the Black Church is an “inspiration of humanity and
justice of hope…a mighty social power today…the great engine of uplift” (Du Bois,
1903a, p. 208). Black churches had growing memberships, controlling their own
buildings and enterprising properties holding significant earning contributions. Fur-
thermore, churches held a day nursery, a kindergarten, gymnasium, kitchen garden,
and reading rooms for boys are carried on with persistence and success. This was
a space of transformative resources in which their research found unprecedented
forms of organization for Black people.
Second, Black schools developed into black structures that were able to dissemi-
nate knowledge, training, and skills that could gain more resources going forward.
The ASL designated formal and informal spaces of education as vital to thriving. In
the third ASL publication, Some Efforts of American Negroes for their Own Social
Betterment, analysis of the physical and social conditions of Black families found
that Black mothers in households had to work, despite their husbands searching or
having work. This social reality placed black children unattended, therefore requir-
ing some formalized educational space. Due to the evidence-based research by
Atlanta University research from scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois, Lucey Laney, Mary
Ovington, Gertrude Ware, Atlanta University president John Hope, and his wife
civil rights activist Eugenia Hope founded the Gate City Free Kindergarten Associa-
tion (GCFKA) in 1905 (MS, 1907). This evidence-based educational space offered
learning opportunities for Atlanta residents’ children that still exist today.
Finally, as I will discuss later, this century-old educational space is representa-
tive of the mobilization of resources and educational structures that Black people
were able to maintain over time because Black scholars, with a Black sociological
standpoint, could uncover, and discuss scientifically. Unequivocally then, educa-
tion spaces were also black structures that developed social power. Blackness was
not just oppression, it was strength, resilience, beauty, resources, and power, and it
was worth living. And if the ASL did not examine Black structures like the church
and educational spaces then sociologists would maintain the dominant racial narra-
tives of regressions. Their work highlights the importance of taking on a non-deficit
approach to doing Black sociological research.
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The research Centers on the Experiences of Black Americans but also Includes
People of African Descent Throughout the Diaspora
The third principle centers scientific research on people of African descent and
throughout the Diaspora. Wright II (2020) provides an in-depth review of the impor-
tance of researching Black Americans because it was a valid social condition that
research at that time did not focus on (p. 10). For example, the ASL theorized that
social betterment through charitable organizations as well as business co-operations,
educational outlets, and community-based organizations around the globe for Black
people was imperative for the development and maintenance of Black-led social
organizations (Du Bois, 1909).
These missionary organizations were based on the retention of African social rela-
tions of charity and the adaptation of those social relations into structured organiza-
tions and institutions in the USA. The ASL scholars discussed providing these benev-
olent programs “…not only in the streets of our cities of America that we see the
need of this Home Missionary work, for in the streets of Cape Town, Africa, I found
the need of the same practical Christian service…I therefore formed in African four
societies (Du Bois, 1909, p. 26). Further, this missionary and benevolent society was
also connected to educating African people in schools. They write, “We are help-
ing two schools and give missions in Africa…We have a fund in reserve to educate
African girls to return as missionaries" (Du Bois, 1909, p. 27). This was a calling to
conduct research when plausible in other areas of the world. However, with limited
resources, the ASL was bound to only collect most of their data on the Black Amer-
ican experience. Today, we can see the importance of employing Black sociology
in other countries because the importance of investigating systems of inequality and
power are not bound to the black experience in America but should expand to people
of African descent throughout the diaspora. Thus, I add evidence that Black sociol-
ogy, as outlined by others, should focus on the Black experience globally.
The Research Implements an Interdisciplinary and Community‑based Approach
ASL’s resolutions also showcase that an interdisciplinary approach is influenced by

its community-based approach. The ASL monographs were a shared enterprise by
scholars of different disciplines. They represented a diversity of thought and skill sets.
Scholars like Augusts Granville Dill, Florence Kelley, Kelley Miller, Richard Wright
Jr. Lucey Laney, Georgia Swift King, Selena Morehead Bass, Frank Boas, Jane
Addams, Monroe Work, and W.E.B. Du Bois are examples of preeminent ASL scholars.
Those names represent theology, sociology, anthropology, medicine, education, activ-
ism, scholarship, and business to name a few. They also represent an interdisciplinary
and intersectional approach to doing research. For scholars like Jane Addams, Flor-
ence Kelley, Frank Boas, Monroe Work, and Du Bois, the ASL became an intellectual
community space for doing scientific research on Black Americans. In Efforts for the
Social Betterment among Negro Americans publication, Atlanta University recognized
its position as an intellectual hub for knowledge production.
13
Atlanta University also served as an intellectual hub for activists to develop the
empirical evidence and scientific method to ameliorate the social constructions of
race, gender, poverty, and class, amongst people of African descent. Its work of
global impact reached all efforts because of the continued commitment to under-
standing social conditions related to Black people. Although money always was an
issue (Du Bois, 1909), the commitment to helping Black people was always based
on the communal intellectual space that Atlanta University afforded.
Research about Black People is Understood as Contextually Valid and Valuable

to Scientific Research
The fifth principle recognizes the validity of conducting research regarding Black
people within the field of sociology as vital scientific research. This is only a
slight change from Wright II’s fourth principle of generalizability since generaliz-
ability relies on external validity. The ASL scholars researched the Black experi-
ences because Black people’s social and historical conditions were important to
understanding the U.S. social milieu. Specifically, their experiences in the United
States provide an analysis of what the social consequence of racialization provides.
This makes the social conditions and relations of Black people valid to the social
construction of general social patterns in the United States. Validity in scientific
research ensures that measures and relations are studied accurately. ASL sociolo-
gists collected data on Black people to improve accuracy on U.S. social relations.
For example, the ASL focused on the social and physical conditions that impact
Black people’s mortality rates. The research team was so in-depth with their data
collection that they extended their initial analysis for an additional year (Atlanta
University 1896, p. 3). Data collected included tabulations of health outcomes, the
magnitude of familial/housing conditions, working conditions, and employment, as
it relates to diseases such as rheumatism, phenomena, and typhoid (Atlanta Univer-
sity 1896, p. 7). To research Black Americans translates to collecting and analyzing
more precise data to fill a void of nonexistent to inaccurate data. They found that
census data measures overcounted colored family size and did not collect much data
on women’s work. This was an important measure to understand the role of fathers
in black homes. Historical data that we use today purports absent Black fathers (Fra-
zier, 1948) with only a few exceptions (Stack, 1974). In 1896, ASL collected data
on Black women’s work, something the U.S. census was not privy to analyzing.
Their analysis showcased that Black fathers were not absent but attempting to find
work to earn a living for their families. Only 27% of male-headed households were
able to provide for their family without help from other family members (Atlanta
University, 1897, p. 6). In addition, they also found that mothers were also leaving
the home to find work. 57% of families investigated were partially or fully finan-
cially supported by mothers (ibid). The editor reported, “to attempt to prove from
the showing of this table that Negro men are unwilling to support their families and
that they are lazy and shiftless, would be unfair. Careful inquiry by a number of the
investigators indicates very strongly that the comparatively small support given by
13
these men to their families is not due to unwillingness but to their inability to get
work as readily and as constantly as the women” (Atlanta University, 1897, p. 7).
I will emphasize again that ASL’s data and theories provide the importance of
studying Black people in the United States. Stock stories, or stories that we have
identified as true without much evidence, such as Black people living in fatherless
homes, have been systematically wielded against Black people up until this day.
Even federal programs like My Brother’s Keeper were developed to create fictive
familial-like relationships to support Black boys. However, ASL publications pro-
vided evidence that Black men were being refused job opportunities because of
racial discrimination that adversely affected families, children, and individual health.
Instead of taking on the mainstream sociological approach of applying individualis-
tic explanations of behavior and relating it to race, the Black sociological approach at
ASL was to understand the social conditions that afforded limited opportunities affecting
health. They found through empirical evidence that the experiences of Black men were
made difficult because resources were not distributed equally, and family structure was
dictated by social and economic conditions. We can learn from this over one-hundred-
year-old data that social determinants impact health, but that they do not have the same
magnitude or effect by race and gender. ASL found that the white nuclear home does not
fit the socioeconomic factors of Black families. This is valuable scientific research, pro-
viding accurate data on the social relations of Black people.
In addition to accuracy based on sampling and method, Black sociology also
concentrated on the experience of Black Americans to describe social phenomena.
In the same monograph, scholars argue that the birth rate is a helpful indicator of
the death rate. They state, “the natural increase of populations depends upon the
excess of the birthrate over the deathrate” (Atlanta University, 1897, p. 13). This
means that for a successful retention and increase in population requires an equal to
or greater birth-to-death rate proportionately. This sophisticated analysis of popu-
lation however was difficult to ascertain because records of birth rates for Black
people in major cities were limited. More specifically, only two of the five cities
analyzed, Baltimore and Charleston, collected data on birth rates. The scholars
also highlight that the U.S. 1890 Census provided a “colored” birth rate. While
they could have used this data to supplement birth rates for the three missing cit-
ies’ data, they instead labeled the census data as inconclusive. The scholars wrote:
“The United States census of 1890 gives the colored birth-rate of the United States
as 29.07 per thousand but owing to the incompleteness of the records of births by
the municipal and state authorities, these figures are not reliable, and are probably
much too small…It is well-nigh useless to pursue this balance of the subject further,
because of the lack of data” (Atlanta University, 1896, p. 14).
The ASL scholars know that U.S. Census data on the perceived Black birth rate was
limited. By using ASL’s methodological approach, scholars learn how important it is to
research different social groups. The use of empirical data, following up of research anal-
yses, and the collection of their data, is a scientific standard for researching social groups
today. Their research shows Black people’s experiences are valid and informative to sci-
entific research.
13
Black Sociological Scholars use their Scholarship to Promote Social Change

that Includes Social Policy and Practitioners
The sixth principle adds to the fifth regarding social policy implications. Schol-
ars within the Black Sociological tradition (Brooks & Wright, 2021; Wright II &
Calhoun, 2006; Wright II, 2020) have showcased the many ways in which the ASL
monographs identify ways to ameliorate discriminatory practices through practi-
cal approaches. They highlighted how ASL promotes and creates opportunities for
social change. I add to this breadth of knowledge by highlighting two lesser-known
examples of practitioner engagement within Black sociology: the GCFKA and the
Atlanta University Area Housing study.
The GCFKA is a paramount example of Black sociological research being put
into practice. In the second publication (1896), scholars emphasized the differ-
ent Black familial arrangements that were starkly different from the white nuclear
family (p. 6). Specifically, Black mothers were not considered homemakers but
were also required to provide economic support to the family (King, 1897, p. 61).
This reality was leading to higher rates of infant mortality, a lower birth rate, and
neglected children (ibid). Three Black women and two who are Atlanta University
graduates, scholars Georgia Swift King ‘74, Selena Sloan Butler, and Rosa More-
head Bass ‘80 argued for the establishment of mother’s meetings, nurseries, and kin-
dergartens. King argued that mother’s meetings could provide a space for mothers
to learn how to care for children. King found moderate success in holding meetings
at Atlanta University but also holding mother’s meetings in their “immediate neigh-
borhood” (King, 1897, p. 62). Butler (1897) argued that parental work expectations
made nurseries or “institution[al]” spaces for children to have proper supervision
required in both cities and towns (p. 63). Finally, Morehead Bass argued that kinder-
garten school was needed to train children and provide proper supervision for chil-
dren but also to provide training opportunities for Black teachers (Bass, 1897, p. 66).
This preliminary research became the groundwork for the GCFKA. Upon Du
Bois’s arrival, his first Atlanta University publication was on social betterment,
highlighting the many ways Black people galvanized social power including institu-
tionalized educational spaces for children at the Atlanta conferences. In its decennial
follow-up in 1909, the GCFKA provided a thorough report of the research-informed
learning centers. Du Bois (1909) explains:
The most elaborate effort at systematic free kindergartens is that of the Gate
City Free Kindergarten Association of Atlanta, GA…Some colored people of
the city started a free kindergarten association. It ran a free kindergarten for
two years then getting into financial difficulties suspended. Later, at one of the
Atlanta University conferences, Miss Gertrude Ware, the white superintendent
of kindergarten methods in the Atlanta University Training School, suggested
a new beginning of the work. The colored women rallied again, and the result
has been five free kindergartens in operation; four of them since 1905 and the
fifth started last year…No aid is received from the State, although the white
kindergartens receive such help. (p.126)
13
The Black sociological tradition uses systematic investigation and empirical evi-
dence to provide practical measures that create social change. While mainstream
sociology focuses primarily on discovering the problem, the Black sociological tra-
dition is to provide policy-based solutions that lead to social betterment. Despite
failing and having a lack of aid from the State of Georgia, these groups of schol-
ars and scholar-practitioners were able to establish four free kindergarten programs
that still stands today. Today, the GCFKA (2023) website acknowledges its history:
“The Gate City Day Nursery Association was organized in 1905 for the purpose of
providing and maintaining a free kindergarten in Atlanta for African American chil-
dren. A series of Atlanta University conferences studying African American home
life, under the direction of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, revealed the need for some type of
agency to care for neglected children left home alone to play in the streets.” The
Black sociological tradition provides evidence that sociology has a long research
tradition to change the social conditions for society.
There was also a similar approach to applying research to the development of
housing projects in Atlanta. In 1934, then President of Atlanta University, John Hope
commissioned an area housing study by Du Bois to determine how to best serve
Atlantans who required government-funded housing (Du Bois, 1934). Working with
the U.S. Public Works Administration (PWA), the New Deal created a governmen-
tal agency to provide public works and projects like dams, bridges, and housing for
the poor to support U.S. infrastructure. To truly assess the need for housing, Du
Bois and ASL scholars collected data on a community of 241 mostly Black families
whose earnings placed them in poverty due to high rates of male and female unem-
ployment. They collected data on household size, current income, living arrange-
ments, occupations, and other information. With the leadership of President Hope
and the influential Black Atlanta, constituents used this data to establish a Black
housing project in Atlanta known as the University Homes in 1937. This project,
along with the white housing projects Techwood Homes, was one of the first hous-
ing projects for Black people strategically planned and advocated by Atlanta Univer-
sity. Thus, the Black sociological tradition stands as the longest-standing model of
sociological research used to effectuate tangible changes.
The Research is Conducted by Scholars who Implement a Black

Sociological Standpoint
Guided by the first six principles, the last principle implements a Black sociolog-
ical standpoint in which scholars of all racial and ethnic backgrounds can imple-
ment a Black sociological approach. The Black sociological standpoint argues
that any scholar who recognizes that Black people are not inferior or hold any
deficits relative to other groups can perform Black sociology. Scholars should
conduct research that provides evidence to change biased scientific rhetoric and
common assumptions that mainstream sociology of race, ethnicity, and racism
were founded on. The ASL studies showcase how both Black and white people
could conduct research on Black people from a Black sociological standpoint.
Atlanta University, founded six months after the end of the Civil War, had
13
become an epicenter of intellectual thought producing scholars of both Black and

white backgrounds in the South. Therefore, the first studies at Atlanta were a col-
laboration between white and Black people such as George A Towns, a Black
graduate of Atlanta University, Edward Cummings, a white Harvard University
professor of sociology, and George Bradford, a white trustee of Atlanta Univer-
sity in its inception. Over the next decade, Du Bois was tasked with leading most
of the Atlanta University publications, with the support of John Hope, multiracial
president of Morehouse College, Mary Church Terrell, multiracial scholar and
woman activist, Florence Kelley, a white woman, and civil rights activist, Augus-
tus Granville Dill, a Black queer sociologist, Jane Addams, white woman scholar
and activist, Franz Boas, European white scholar, and a multitude of others. This
approach to conducting research was not about the racial makeup of the individu-
als, but the black sociological standpoint to which scholars should approach their
research.
These collective scholars developed theories about Black people that showcased
social constructions of race (Du Bois, 1906), The Negro church as a social institu-
tion and place of power (Du Bois, 1903a), the organization of Black economic capi-
tal (Du Bois, 1907) and the effect of systematic racism that limited Black people’s
access to higher education (Du Bois & Dill, 1913). It was thus Black and non-Black
scholars who could do Black Sociology from a Black sociological standpoint.
Employing a Black sociological standpoint also requires the methodological acu-
men to review the validity of data to ensure accuracy. For example, in the ninth publi-
cation, the ASL examined criminal activities connected to Black people nationally and
in cities in Georgia. Using Census data from 1890, the ASL found that data showcased
a higher rate of criminal activity compared to whites. where Black people committed
31% of all crimes committed in the U.S. compared to 10% of white people. However,
lead researcher Monroe N. Work became leery of these statistics as an overestimation
based on data collection processes at the U.S. census. Du Bois (1904) writes, “How
shall these figures be interpreted? First it is certain that they cannot be given their full
value because of the method of collection. The census of 1890 says: The increase in
the number of prisoners during the last 40 years has been more apparent than real,
owing to the very imperfect enumeration of the prison population prior to 1880” (18).
The ASL scholars like Work and Du Bois were skilled and well-trained to conduct
scientific research and understand the importance of measurement to Black sociology
and its standpoint. A skilled scholar and researcher like Work could designate the data
collected as just as faulty as its reporting. From Work’s estimation, the crime rate for
African Americans would greatly reduce based on a representative sample of southern
cities conducted by ASL scholars and students (Du Bois, 1904, 18). By identifying
that race was influenced by social forces outside of the individual, they not only more
accurately measured a social phenomenon but also demonstrated the importance of the
Black sociological standpoint. Data on Black people’s crime rates, as well as White
people, were an exaggeration, or underestimation, but more importantly an imprecise
measure of actual crime rates. This meant that as scientists they could analyze their
data from a black sociological standpoint, which ASL did.
A Black sociological standpoint recognizes that employing a non-deficit approach
requires a position of understanding the social construction of race. This Black
13
sociological standpoint is paramount to modeling research studies that showcase

black sociology theoretical orientation of systematic racism and social power. ASL
scholars modeled that deficit approaches only remove the understanding of social
power. However, ASL’s publications demonstrated that employing a black socio-
logical standpoint undergirds their theoretical thrust. It also shows that a Black
sociological standpoint is not limited to Black people. I further develop Wright
II and Calhoun’s third principle arguing that Black sociology can and should be
implemented by Black and non-Black scholars who demonstrate a Black sociologi-
cal standpoint.
Discussion
In this paper, I argue for seven Black sociological principles that capture the ground-
breaking theory, methods, and data-driven policies rooted in the ASL. These princi-
ples make clear that Black sociology comes out of the ASL and holds a criterion for
inclusion, as a unique standpoint and sociological subfield. These principles articu-
late a theoretical framework that not only acknowledges the relationship between
social forces and social power but also highlights how agency and power generate
from Black spaces. While mainstream sociology focused primarily on Black people
as subjugated and subaltern, the ASL was already experiencing agency and power
from the Black structures they come from.
With these seven principles, Black sociology provides non-deficit approaches to
researching Black people and highlights the many ways future research on Black
sociology can analyze social power. Central to this thesis is that not all Black intel-
lectual thought supports the relationship of Black structures, agency, and power. The
incorporation of power into theories on race and racism has been limited in social
scientific research for nearly sixty years (Ture & Hamilton, 1992). However, Black
sociology argues for further empirical analysis of the relationship of social power
within Black organizations and structures.
I provide evidence that Black sociology outlines a theory, standpoint, and methods
that must be applied today, especially for the study of people of African descent. The
first Black sociological principle provides a theoretical thrust to understand the rela-
tionship between racial discrimination and the development of social power for racial-
ized groups. Doing Black sociology centers theoretically on collecting empirical data to
understand racism and discrimination in relation to developing social power for Black
folks. This includes the collection of valid data, dissemination of knowledge, and social
policy for organized change. The second principle argues that scholars do not use race
deficit approaches in their research because they employ the seventh principle of the
Black sociological standpoint. The Black sociological standpoint outlines that scholars
cannot do black sociology with perceptions of black inferiority.
I also argue that Black sociology’s methodological principles of interdisciplinar-
ity should incorporate community-based approaches to implement social change.
Fields such as history, medicine, education, and religion were represented in the
sociological analysis of Black people’s social betterment, physical and social condi-
tions, social institutions like the church and family, and their educational and labor
13
market attainment. Research can be produced and led by community constituents

such as presidents of colleges and universities, teachers and educators, alumni, and
graduate students at Atlanta University. This approach to doing sociological research
pushes the idea that work dealing with human products can and should focus on
community support and participation. It also updates the need for generalizability in
research about Black folks by focusing on valid or accurate data. While one form of
validity, external validity is the process of generalizability, it does not have to be the
only method we seek for research on Black folks. Instead, Black sociology provides
evidence that Black people, as a unit of analysis, are valuable and enrich other units
of analysis within scientific data. Further, the value of community-based approaches
to research on the Black experience pays dividends when it comes to building social
institutions that can ameliorate racial inequality like GCFKA and University Homes
urban housing projects for African Americans. I intend for this work to be recog-
nized as the Black Sociological Tradition.
Conclusion
The reimagined principles affirm the importance of having a Black Sociology cri-
terion for doing sociological scientific research about people of African descent.
Scholars should not assume that any Black intellectual thought equates to Black
sociological theories and methodologies. With the majority of ASL publications,
using empirical data to investigate social phenomena, science is paramount to Black
sociology. Further, we can also add Black sociology as one of the first developments
of Black intellectual thought and scientific/intellectual movement that does not per-
ceive the structural conditions of race and racism as absolute. Scholars today may
contrive narratives of racial progress (Ray et al, 2017) as an attempt to remove the
social organization of race and racism, but the Black sociological tradition provides
a different approach. Black sociology theoretically welcomes the duality of struc-
tures that encompass social forces of racism and agentic acts of social power for
Black people. Black people are not powerless, absolutely dominated, and are not
socially dead despite enslavement and the globalization of anti-Blackness. The Black
sociological tradition points to resistance and survival but also sources of social
power such as businesses, schools, organizations, and religious organizations, that
sociology could prove. Scholars interested in Black Sociology should apply these
principles to classical and contemporary sociological thought and research. In doing
so, we begin to build a subfield that supports the scientific analysis of systems of
oppression and social power amongst people of African descent: Black Sociology.
Acknowledgements I want to thank Marcus Brooks for his support during the writing process and all the
Black women, men, and persons at the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory for their groundbreaking work.
Author contributions Kalasia Ojeh originated the idea for the article, performed the literature search and
data analysis, and drafted and/or critically revised the work. The author contributed to the study concep-
tion and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Kalasia Ojeh. The
first draft of the manuscript was written by Kalasia Ojeh and Kalasia Ojeh commented on previous ver-
sions of the manuscript. The author read and approved the final manuscript.
13
Funding N/A.
Availability of data and material N/A.
Code availability N/A.
Declarations
Ethics approval The author, Kalasia Ojeh, maintains all ethical standards set by the COPE guidelines for
this journal.
Consent to participate N/A.
Consent for publication N/A.
Competing interests On behalf of the author, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict
of interest.
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Black Sociology

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The American Sociologist (2024) 55:38–58

Black Sociology: Toward a Theoretical Analysis of Systems

Accepted: 1 November 2023 / Published online: 8 December 2023

Keywords Black Sociology · Race · Power · Oppression · Systems

1. Defines Black sociology as the scientific analysis of systems of oppression and

Identifying ASL publications as the classical Black sociological tradition clari-

Black Sociology Versus White (Mainstream) Sociology

Black Sociology Versus Black Sociologists and Scholars

“To speak of “Black Sociologists” requires an examination of an intellec-

Black Sociology Principles Versus Black Scholars Approach

Black Sociology Versus Du Boisian Sociology

However, Du Boisian sociology was developed by conducting research from a Black

The Black Sociological Tradition

I argue that Black Sociology as a distinct field of sociology requires an updated

Defines Black Sociology as the Scientific Analysis of Systems of Oppression

of criminal justice. In their resolutions, ASL appealed to White people asking to

Avoid Race Deficit Approaches Derived from Mainstream Sociology

Their Black sociological approach unearthed the social construction of inequality in

The Research Implements an Interdisciplinary and Community‑based Approach

ASL’s resolutions also showcase that an interdisciplinary approach is influenced by

Research about Black People is Understood as Contextually Valid and Valuable

Black Sociological Scholars use their Scholarship to Promote Social Change

The Research is Conducted by Scholars who Implement a Black

become an epicenter of intellectual thought producing scholars of both Black and

sociological standpoint is paramount to modeling research studies that showcase

market attainment. Research can be produced and led by community constituents

Availability of data and material N/A.

Code availability N/A.

Consent to participate N/A.

Consent for publication N/A.

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