Ayan Patel
The Scholar Activist
There were many African American activists during the twentieth century. One prominent activist included W. E. B Du Bois. He was born on February 23rd, 1868 (Feuerherd). W. E. B Du Bois was a prominent scholar who spoke out on racism, inequality, and discrimination of African Americans during the early 1900s. He was the "first African American to receive a doctorate at Harvard, and went on to become a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University" (Feuerherd). W. E. B Du Bois was also a founding member and leader of the NAACP (NAACP). Du Bois "fought discrimination and racism…and contributed to debates about race, politics and history…through his writings and speeches" (America's Library).
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E. B Du Bois was a "leading thinker on race" and "prominent intellectual" who became known for his essays and books on the struggles of Black Americans (NAACP). His written works highlighted how African Americans were treated in post-slavery America. One example is his exposure of lynching. In 1910, Du Bois became the editor of the monthly magazine, The Crisis (NAACP). As Du Bois was the editor, he inserted charts of all the lynchings that occurred in the nearby cities (NAACP). By doing this, he influenced people to sympathize for the lynching victims and helped "push for legislation …to outlaw the cruel extrajudicial killings" (NAACP). There were many articles and books that Du Bois wrote to help end discrimination against the African American community. One of the most notable collection of essays is The Souls of Black Folk. In these essays, Du Bois used the term "double consciousness" as it related to the Black experience during the 1900s (NAACP). The term referred to the "sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others" which in this case was through the eyes of racism of that time (Pittman). These essays highlighted the discrimination and struggles that Black Americans were continuing to face even after the end of slavery. Over his career, Du Bois wrote many books and essays that helped to influence the civil rights movement of the twentieth
was educated at Harvard University and other top schools, Du Bois studied with some of the most important social thinkers of his time (history.com). W.E.B. did not grow up during the time of slavery so he has different experiences than Booker T. this is part of the reason why they have such differing opinions. “He earned fame for the publication of such works as Souls of Black Folk (1903), and was a founding officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and editor of its magazine” (history.com). The NAACP is an organization that supports minority races and works towards racial equality and equal rights. The NAACP is an organization that is still here today.
W.E.B DuBois was a man who wanted equality between both races. His ideas about having all blacks being educated and joining in things involving the government was to give them a better opportunity. His ideas still go on today among people of color because we all want the similar things he wanted. He believed the country's problem was the separation between white and blacks. To this day that is still a major problem.
Du Bois was born in 1868 and died at the age of 95 in 1963, and throughout his life, he wrote thousands of essays and published over twenty books, including The Philadelphia Negro in 1899, and The Souls of Black Folk in 1903 (Du Bois and Zuckerman (ed.), 2004). This essay will focus on The Philadelphia Negro, where Du Bois shares his findings on how black people in Philadelphia were living at the time. Bobo, an American sociologist, wrote the introduction for the 2007 edition of The Philadelphia Negro, and he states that Du Bois focused on several factors which affected the lives of black people, including their history of enslavement, racial discrimination, such as in education, and their economic circumstances, which he claims that Du Bois
He had the idea that equal education could be the equalizer for blacks and whites. His first order of business was wanting to dispose of segregation. Bois believed as long as blacks and whites were separated they'd never be equivalent. W.E.B also played a huge part in the NAACP. He helped found
After a series of articles written by both Washington and Du Bois their difference came to a head after Du Bois directly criticized Washington and his approach in his book “The Souls of Black Folks”, he then went on to demand full civil rights for African Americans. Du Bois also believed in liberal arts education to create “talented tenth” of African Americans that could challenge segregation in court. Believing that political action and agitation were the only way to achieve equality Du Bois and other African American intellectuals founded a “radical” political group called Niagara, which later went on to become the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the (NAACP). Due to Du Bois’ confrontational approach to the advancement of African Americans
W.E.B. DuBois founded the NAACP, which advocated for an opposition against racism and segregation towards the black community. His plan to provide blacks with an equal footing in society was based upon receiving education, which in turn he hoped would bring about respect and equality from all, especially whites.
He became an author by, Du Bois published his landmark study the first case study of an African-American community. The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899), marking the beginning of his expansive writing
Dubois. Dubois was an incredibly intelligent African American and was also one of the founders of the NAACP. Dubois wanted full rights for African Americans and wouldn’t be satisfied with partial rights. With his position in the NAACP and editor of its journal, “The Crisis”, Dubois had a lot of influence. He definitely put his influence to good use in arguing against the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision, which stated that segregation was legal as long as both races had equal opportunities.
Du Bois uses many different ways to target the reader. His main purpose in “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, is to educate mistreated Africans American about demanding equality and rights that were promised to them around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation. Du Bois uses different types of literary devices (mostly personifications) and firsthand accounts stories about injustice to make his point to the reader. For example, Du Bois states, “Will America be poorer if she replaces her brutal dyspeptic blundering with light-hearted but determined Negro humility?” (Du Bois 297).
Thesis statement: The two great leaders in the black community debating about the issues that face the Negro race and Du Bois gave a compelling argument by using pathos, logos and ethos to create an essay that will appear to all readers. Outline: This essay will showcase the contradicting philosophies between W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. Also, paying close attention to the different types of leadership between the two historic leaders in the black community. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington contributed to and helped shape the future of African Americans.
W.E.B Du Bois and His Impact on Black America W.E.B Dubois was a man who believed and fought for a cause that changed and revolutionized how some people see racism today. Before Du bois started his civil rights activism he was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23, 1868, and in 1884 Du Bois graduated as the valedictorian from his high school class. Soon after he graduated from high school he was accepted into Harvard University in 1888 as a junior and was the first African American to earn a PHD from Harvard University. Shortly after he received a bachelor of arts cum laude in 1890. Later in his life Du Bois began to fight vigorously for lesser status foundations and became an advocate for full and equal rights.
Achieving African American Equality Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were two of the most influential advocates for African American equality during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Blatty, 1). Although both men ultimately had the same goal, their methods for achieving African American equality were remarkably different. To begin, the men had conflicting ideas about what constituted as African American equality. Booker T. Washington argued that the accumulation of wealth and the ability to prove that Blacks were productive members of society would be the mark of true equality for African Americans (Painter, 155).
The early twentieth century was not a pleasant time for African Americans; they didn’t have many rights and they lost any gain that they made from their huge positive influence in the Civil War. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois both saw all the issues that African Americans faced, and they both had the same goal: success for blacks in America. Washington’s approach was to accept the social inequality but in return get equal economics as whites. Du Bois wanted a more aggressive approach and wanted both social and economic equality, and he was hostile towards Washington because he didn’t demand social equality. In the time period, African Americans who demanded their social and economic rights sided with Du Bois because he would provide them the leadership to gain rights equal to whites.
In the analysis of the abundance of wonderful leaders who made a difference in the African American community since emancipation, W.E.B Du Bois made a special impact to advance the world. From founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to his influential book The Souls of Black Folk, he always found an accurate yet abstract way of verbalizing the strives of African Americans as well as making platforms for them to be known. Although he had less power than most of the bigger named African American leaders of his time, W.E.B Dubois’ overweighing strengths verses weaknesses, accurate and creative analogies, leadership style, and the successful foundations he stood for demonstrates his ability to be both realistic and accurate in his assessment since emancipation. Though Du Bois did have a beneficial impact
W.e. B Du Bois was one of the most important African American Activist during the first war of the 20th century. He Identified himself as “mulatto” but freely attended schools with whites. He earned his bachelor's degree at Fisk After which he attended Harvard University.