Chapter three of Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 is titled “The Planter.” Like the two before it, and the one coming next, at 23 pages it is a relatively short entry in a book where chapters averages 43 pages. But this “lighter” entry reinforces the doctrine of black inferiority. It demonstrates, in the pre-Civil War context, race as a political, economic, and scientific construction. It sets us up for upcoming need to reconstruct all three, and the failures in those efforts. Du Bois begins, according to the chapter title, by noting the concentration and domination of the planter class (i.e. Read more