By examining Booker T. Washington's (little studied) relationship with Mormon elites, this article introduces the category of “usefulness” to scholars who investigate how racially and religiously marginalized Americans have sought acceptance in the “white American republic.” Washington's 1913 visit to Utah was the high point in a decade-long public campaign of mutual admiration. Washington and the Mormons’ high regard for each other—an aberration in much of black-Mormon relations—was based on similar histories of discrimination at the hands of white Protestant Americans. It was also based on similar beliefs that to overcome their status as “problem” people, Washington-led blacks and Mormons had to prove their “usefulness”—a form of respectability politics—to themselves and to the American republic. To do so, they pointed to the fruits of their own and each other's usefulness: economic productivity, educational advancement, and middle-class mores. While these fruits were similar, the roots were different, and racialized. For the Mormons, usefulness arose from a post-polygamy Mormon religion through which they asserted their whiteness. For Washington, usefulness arose not from the “Negro” church—the only independent black institution in American history—but from educational institutions like Tuskegee, which promoted black advancement under the control of white supremacy.

中文翻译：

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美国白人共和国的“黑人问题”、“摩门教问题”和对“有用性”的追求

通过研究布克·华盛顿（Booker T. Washington）与摩门教精英的关系，本文向研究种族和宗教边缘化的美国人如何在“美国白人共和国”中寻求接受的学者介绍了“有用”类别。华盛顿 1913 年对犹他州的访问是长达十年的相互钦佩公开运动的高潮。华盛顿和摩门教对彼此的高度尊重——在许多黑人与摩门教关系中的反常——是基于类似的白人新教美国人歧视的历史。它也基于类似的信念，即为了克服他们作为“问题”人的地位，华盛顿领导的黑人和摩门教徒必须向自己和美利坚合众国证明他们的“有用性”——一种体面的政治形式。为此，他们指出了他们自己和彼此的用处的成果：经济生产力、教育进步和中产阶级的风俗习惯。虽然这些果实相似，但根源不同，并且被种族化了。对于摩门教徒来说，有用性源于一夫多妻制后的摩门教，他们通过这种宗教宣称自己的白人身份。对华盛顿来说，有用性不是来自“黑人”教会——美国历史上唯一独立的黑人机构——而是来自像塔​​斯基吉这样的教育机构，它在白人至上的控制下促进了黑人的进步。有用性源于一夫多妻制后的摩门教，他们通过该宗教宣称自己是白人。对华盛顿来说，有用性不是来自“黑人”教会——美国历史上唯一独立的黑人机构——而是来自像塔​​斯基吉这样的教育机构，它在白人至上的控制下促进了黑人的进步。有用性源于一夫多妻制后的摩门教，他们通过该宗教宣称自己是白人。对华盛顿来说，有用性不是来自“黑人”教会——美国历史上唯一独立的黑人机构——而是来自像塔​​斯基吉这样的教育机构，它在白人至上的控制下促进了黑人的进步。