Jim Crow Sociology: Toward an Understanding of the Origin and Principles of Black Sociology via the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory

Abstract

Abstract Using the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory as a reference, this inquiry offers a definition of and principles for Black Sociology. The authors conclude that Black Sociology emerged at Atlanta University in 1895 not as a conscious or purposeful antithesis to mainstream sociology, but as a means by which Black and White scholars could help eliminate Blacks from social oppression through objective scientific investigations into the social, economic, and physical condition for the express purpose of obtaining data aimed at understanding, explaining, and ameliorating the problems discovered in the African American community in a manner that could have social policy implications.