The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study

Du Bois relates his experiences as a schoolteacher in rural Tennessee, and then he turns his attention to a critique of American materialism in the rising city of Atlanta where the single-minded attention to gaining wealth threatens to replace all other considerations. In terms of education, African Americans should not be taught merely to earn money. Rather, Du Bois argues there should be a balance between the "standards of lower training" and the "standards of human culture and lofty ideals of life." In effect, the African American college should train the "Talented Tenth" who can in turn contribute to lower education and also act as liaisons in improving race relations.

Du Bois contributed to Sociological Theory in several other works published, specifically The Philadelphia Negro. This work was one of the earliest sociological studies to analyze urban life and African Americans. He analyzed various issues in living conditions, education, work life, etc. of the black population living in Philadelphia, something never done before (Du Bois & Eaton, 1976). The goal of his work was to get to the root of the mass amount of difficulties that plagued African Americans in urban areas and pose solutions to improve their standing. From the study, he coined the term the Talented Tenth. The Talented Tenth was described as a need for the most educated and successful of African Americans to gain as much knowledge

Growing up Du Bois often played with the white kids in school, and he strived to be recognized for being more knowledgeable in all aspects than they were, however, he came to realize that it would never be possible. Through interactions with other black boys Du Bois was made aware of his limitations, nevertheless, he, like many black people fought to be optimistic in finding ways to take these opportunities that were so rightfully theirs. However, the question emerged of how could a person strive to be prosperous and have everything that the race he so greatly detest has, without being considered dishonorable by his own people? Many African Americans are brainwashed and fall under the misconception that having an education, a career, or even speaking proper, falls into the category of acting white. This ideology places a lot of stress on many successful black people, who growing up faced bullying and were described as a disgrace to their own race.

Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois earned a Ph.D. at Harvard, the first of his race to do so; demanded complete equality for blacks; helped to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1910.

In the empirical article, “Black Philly after the Philadelphia Negro,” Marcus Anthony Hunter examines the once populated Seventh Ward and the effects that political neglect and racial barriers had on this primarily black area, which ultimately led to its urban decay. Similarly, in recent years, we see this occurring in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. However, we notice how the neglect towards Vesterbro stems from other factors such as immigration, crime, and a poor economy. Hunter examined the archives of the Seventh Ward, specifically after W.E.B. Du Bois’ initial study of the Seventh Ward. From the 1920s through the 1940s, Hunter found that the poor living conditions did not improve. Instead, they were constant, suggesting that Republican politicians neglected this black area. “This period also offers a historical window into the shifting allegiances of black Americans, and their retreat from the Republican Party and embrace of the Democratic Party” (Hunter). Hunter claimed that the shift in

DuBois plunged eagerly into his research. He was certain that the race problem was one of ignorance. And he was determined to unearth as much knowledge as he could, thereby providing the "cure" for color prejudice. His relentless studies led into historical investigation, statistical and anthropological measurement, and sociological interpretation. The outcome of this exhaustive endeavor was published as The Philadelphia Negro. "It revealed the Negro group as a symptom, not a cause; as a striving, palpitating group, and not an inert, sick body of crime; as a long historic development and not a transient occurrence." This was the

In the article Black Philly After The Philadelphia Negro, Marcus Anthony Hunter examines public housing and policy reforms in the Black Seventh Ward during the 1920s-1940s. The Seventh Ward experienced urban decay, followed by gentrification leaving its residents living in slums, abandoned, and further mistreated. Presently in Rio the same process is occurring in the village Rio De Janeiero. Although community members are actively protesting against the construction of the Olympic Stadium, residents are being evicted, leaving them homeless.

The same year the dissertation was published, Du Bois began to teach Latin, Greek, German, and English at Wilberforce University in Ohio. After teaching for several years, Du Bois conducted an exhaustive study of the social and economic conditions of urban blacks in Philadelphia in 1896 and 1897. The results were published in the Philadelphia Negro (1899). This was the first sociological text on a black community published in the United States.

W.E. Du Bois addresses race with the quote, “between me [Du Bois] and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it,” (Levine 203). This quote emphasis how people think about race, because the question they want to ask is how does it feel to be the problem? In the time period that Du Bois is writing in, race is a problem. There is so much segregation and hurt that it is a social and moral issue. The books in class, like Harrison, has talked about race and power. Two significant cases in American history have shown that race is a problem. The first is Plessy v Ferguson caused segregation to win the case and then Brown v. Board of Education

In sociology there are many methods that widely vary in style that are used in order to gather the data necessary to answer research questions. These methods include case studies that deal with and investigate a small group of people over a longer period of time, to using secondary analysis that uses historical and public data to facilitate in a research question, and many other styles in between. The methods that are used each have their own sets of pros and cons, and it is decided by the researcher which will function best when applied to their research. In this essay I will analyze the methods used in The Philadelphia Negro and The Diversity Bargain. Though both of the studies required the researchers to question and interact with the people

W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23rd, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was born into a freed family which owned land. He attended an integrated public school. He eventually attended Fisk University, with money which was contributed to him by his fellow church members. While at Fisk, Du Bois was subjected to the harsh racism of the South. After graduating from Fisk University, he continued his education at Harvard College and then Berlin University – before returning to Harvard for his Ph.D. He eventually went on to become a professor at the Atlanta University. Du Bois was a strong racial activist, and fought for the equal rights of blacks – but he also fought for the

The late 18th century and the early 19th century were characterized by widespread slave trade and slavery. This was as a result of the sense of entitlement from the whites in America that they were superior to their black counterparts. Africans and other people of color were shipped into America to provide free labor to white farms that engaged in large-scale farming. Industrialization during this period ensured that the demand for labor was high. Moreover, the promise of cheap or free labor was appealing to the whites who saw this as an opportunity to maximize their gains. Although the whites succeeded to enslave people to work for them, such people would stage demonstrations aimed at securing their freedom. To them,

Du Bois got along fairly well in Massachusetts as there was a large population of European-American 's who were generally accepting of him and his family. As a child, Du Bois would often play with white children, and at times even be "The town leader of the gang of boys." ("Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil" 11). During his time as a young child, race was not much of an issue and he didn 't realize how important it would be until later in his life. The schools in his town were integrated as children of all races were taught together. Du Bois would go on to graduate from Searles High School at the age of 16 and afterwards, attend Fisk University, an HBCU – or historically black college, with dreams of going to Harvard.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, born in 1868, was a scholar, activist, and philosopher, born into the era of Reconstruction and lynching. Though he accomplished much in his life, Du Bois is largely known for helping found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and writing one of the most prominent works in American critical race theory, The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois made it his life’s work to contest racism through self-assertion, humanize black people across the globe, and find a way to integrate black society and white American society. Much of his rhetoric focused on “double consciousness” and “the veil,” separate but closely related concepts that Du Bois used to describe the experience of Americans, both black and white. While Du Bois passed away a mere day before the March on Washington in 1963, his rhetoric remains vital to anti-racist philosophy; for today, Americans live in an age of colorblind racism. It is a commonly held amongst white Americans belief that all Americans are treated equally and fairly, often citing the civil rights movements of the 1960’s in which the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 came to be. However, as of 2016, 42% of black Americans are dissatisfied in regards to how they are treated, while a mere 15% of white Americans are dissatisfied with the treatment of black Americans.1 Much of Du Bois’ rhetoric focused on education; more specifically, how to use the role of institutions,

However, he met a student named Nina Gomer, who he would marry and take with him to the University of Pennsylvania, where he accepted a job as an assistant instructor of sociology. He finally found a place to roost in 1897, when he was given a job as a professor at the University of Atlanta, where he remained until 1910. In his career as an educator, Du Bois taught history, economics, sociology, Greek, Latin and English literature.