Yesterday was John Brown's birthday, Reclus who lived in North America for 3 years between 1852 and 1855 was a great admirer of John Brown. Not just for his "courage", Reclus sees John Brown as among the only white persons fighting for the freedom of black people.

Reclus criticizes heavily the North for being largely interested in the end of slavery for economic reasons and not freedom and he fears the end of slavery will in turn create new structures made to exploit black people. "They have in mind their own material interests and not

the happiness of black people.". He cites the example of the Kansas war and how supposed abolitionists refused rights to black people, or how in New York poor black people were refused the right to vote because they were apparently incompatible with white people.

The South was fighting to maintain slavery but the North was not fighting to free black people. He deplores how free black people are forced away from political power through misery a process he views as close to "extermination".

To all those people, he opposes again and again Brown (and a few others) as well as black people fighting for their own rights. He explicitly states that the liberation of black people will take white people placing themselves as equals with black people. A first step of black

liberation being them getting armed to defend themselves and make their own decisions. He is still however in favor of the end of slavery even if it means misery as slavery not only deteriotates the material conditions of the slave but stops them from developing the idea of their

own liberation. The end of slavery is therefore a necessary step because it affords to black people the freedom to advocate for themselves by developing their consciousness even if white people in the North do not have the idea of black freedom in mind.

Written in 1863, this view reflects his later anarchism. The fact that a people isn't ready to liberate itself doesn't mean that we should become advocates of a new kind of servitude or become apathetic. We can be like John Brown, slowly working to help the oppressed develop

their idea of freedom by treating them as equal and empowering them. We can not impose freedom through a civil war, but we can push towards freedom through empowerement.

"We anarchists do not want to emancipate the people; we want the people to emancipate themselves" -Malatesta

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This thread was mostly some fun facts about Reclus, but also to show white people that they can be on the side of freedom, but it will take listening to black people. These writings just show that white people can oppose racism. To learn about black liberation I recommend

reading actual oppressed people which are the people who developed the ideas that Reclus held.

https://www.blackrosefed.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Black-Anarchism-A-Reader-4.pdf