W. E. B Dubois Propaganda

In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that African Americans received ten percent longer sentences than whites for committing the same crimes. W.E.B. Dubois, a heavy influencer in the NAACP, wrote many books describing the inequality felt by African Americans in everyday life. Thirty years later, when Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird it showed that discrimination in the United States had stayed the same. W.E.B. Dubois’ union with the NAACP and his socialist views on government during the 1900's are relevant to the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird and the extended fight against racial discrimination leading up to the March on Washington in the 1960's.

W. E. B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington were both highly intelligent African American men who wrote about the disparities between the lives of whites and blacks in the United States during the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. Each man saw the way in which his fellow African Americans were being treated by the white majority and used their intelligence and persuasive skills to bring attention to this very serious issue. Both men fought for equality through nonviolent protest and the application of logical argument and reasoning in order to better their lives and those of their social and ethnic brothers. Despite their shared goal of racial and sociological equality, the two men had very different ideas about how equality would be achieved and about what the African American community should or ought to expect in terms of actually obtaining that equality.

The Crisis was a magazine that W.E.B DuBois created in 1910 and it was also the official magazine of the NAACP. DuBois was not only the founder of this magazine, but he was also the editor. The targeted audience of this magazine was the African American community. At this point in time a magazine that was ran by Black people and for Black people was unheard of. The purpose of this magazine was to shine light on who and what the Black community was, to create an outlet where Black scholars could share their work, and it was a source where Black people could get useful information (the information was tailored to the Black community’s needs) from trusted sources. The magazine became very influential, at its peak the magazine had 100,000 readers

The end of the Civil War was followed almost immediately by a new wave that would see the African Americans face great suffering and discrimination. As newly freed slaves, African Americans were presented with a dilemma to either curve a new niche in a society that once viewed and treated them as mere properties than humans. It was during these difficult times that two key figures in the African American History rose as paramount leaders of two sharply contrasting philosophical camps. The Massachusettian William Edward Burghardt and the Virginian Booker T. Washington, both held two completely contrasting proposals about the best approach for African American to overcome and thrive in the mist of their suffering and racial discrimination. Although their approaches greatly differed, both of these noble men shared a common goal in uplifting the black community in history. The aim of this paper is to argue in the contrasting philosophies of these two key figures in the history of African America.

At the early turn of the 20th Century United States, there was a large debate about how the average American viewed African Americans or Negroes. As a result, white consensus geared toward putting Africans in a type of caste system, where they would consider below whites, women, and immigrants. By this point, most African Americans were just conforming to this way of life and did not seek to change this. While this occurred, many intellectual black men sought to change how society treated African Americans. At the forefront of the respected intellectual was W.E.B. Dubois who sought to shake the foundation of caste and the Harvard professor by the name of Booker T. Washington who wanted to fight within the caste system. Both men had the right idea and the same end goal, which being the enhanced rights of blacks, but by how this would be different. The point of view that has a more grounded argument is W.E.B. Dubois; as seen in how Dubois talks on the basis of fighting the disenfranchisement of political power of African-Americans, against forfeiting civil rights and working toward the equality of a higher education for Negroes.

W.E.B. DuBois wrote 21 books and numerous journal articles fighting for the end of segregation. DuBois was born in 1868, post emancipation proclamation. In 1890, he attended Harvard and was the first African American to earn a doctorate. DuBois founded the NAACP alongside Ida Wells to advocate for the end of segregation and dedicated his life to it. DuBois’ philosophy calls for political action and a civil rights agenda.

William Edward Burkhardt DuBois, whom we all know as W.E.B. DuBois; was a novelist, public speaker, poet, editor, author, leader, teacher, scholar, and romantic. He graduated from high school at the age of 16, and was selected as the valedictorian, being that he was the only black in his graduating class of 12. He was orphaned shortly after his graduation and was forced to fund his own college education. He was a pioneer in black political thoughts and known by many as a main figure in the history of African-American politics. W.E.B. DuBois attended Fisk University, where he was awarded a scholarship after he graduated high school. Fisk University was located in Nashville, Tennessee. While attending this University, this is where he saw

DuBois wrote “Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purist. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not it used for propaganda.” DuBois used the word propaganda which are the information, ideas, or rumors deliberatelyspread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, nation, or other words advertising. This quote goes with importance of self-representation and writing against the grain of racist stereotypes.

W.E.B. Dubois The great African American intellectual W.E.B. Dubois was born in the post-Civil War era. Being born at this time encouraged him to fight for equal rights for blacks. At this time, blacks were still suppressed very greatly. Dubois, having had lived in an all black community, experienced racism first-hand in the North (Donalson, 558).

WEB Du Bois provides a counter argument to the belief in the American dream, however. He argues that “when sticks and stones and beasts form the sole environment of a people, their attitude is largely one of determined opposition to and conquest of individuals” (541). Du Bois is arguing that men become oppressed because of an innate attitude that men possess, that in fact it is not their qualifications that determine whether or not they are successful, rather it is based on the preconceived

3.) According to DuBois, “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Using several representative examples, consider how American writers (of any color) since the Civil War have addressed this problem.

Audre Lorde once wrote in the book of poems; Our Dead Behind Us, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Every race, group of people, and individuals have differences that can dominate over their similarities. Rather than pointing out the differences, they should be accepted and encouraged, at least this is what many thought during the time of racism. Booker Taliaferro Washington was a very dominant figure in the African-American community. He was an educator, author, public speaker, and an advisor. In contrast, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a historian, civil rights activist, sociologist, author, writer, and editor. He worked with movements to strengthen bonds between those with African backgrounds, under the belief of unity. Both Washington and Du Bois were very active in the issues of racism against African-Americans during the 1900’s. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois strongly wanted change in how the black race were treated by the white race, however they had very different points of view in which Washington thought that accommodation was key, whereas Du Bois thought resistance would work best.

Propaganda is used everywhere in life and books. It has such a complex meaning under what the people or it is saying. In Animal Farm, The Wave, and Night propaganda is used to describe what life was like for all the people in that time and how crucial survival was and how to not get outcasted.

African Americans during the 1900s lived lives full of uncertainty. They were no longer slaves, but still looked upon by many as inferior to the white race. However in this period of tension, there were men who sought to bring their race to new heights. One of these men was W.E.B Du Bois. Few have influenced the lives of African Americans in such a way as W.E.B Du Bois. The vision he had for African Americans was one that many found great hope in. He sought for the day that his race for finally have civil equality in every aspect of life.

Propaganda, a strong and powerful word that carries quite a negative connotation nowadays. It exists since a thousand years ago, and used to be a tool that was widely used by charismatic leaders in order to rule a nation or just simply influence an audience. It is still constantly being used as a political and social mean in less obvious ways to influence people’s attitudes. By definition, propaganda is giving information that is not impartial. We usually have the Nazi propaganda in mind, or all the other war propaganda posters since it is more evident. But what about modern day propaganda?