Essay William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois

During the American Gilded Age, W.E.B Du Bois, a civil rights activist, historian, and sociologist, was a significant figure in U.S history. He strongly advocated for the rights of blacks in post-civil war America primarily focusing on the importance of education, political rights, and social equality for African Americans. His accomplishments include becoming the first black to get a PhD at Harvard and co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. Although there were many ground breaking progress for blacks, Du Bois heavily expressed his concern for black representation in the political system. In his 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folks, Du Bois articulated the importance of representation for blacks stating,

W.E.B. Du Bois (1968-1963) was a huge contributor to sociology through the eyes and experience of an African-American scholar (Vissing, 2011). Du Bois was an author, activist and student of Black sociology. In his 1897 article, Strivings of the Negro People”, Du Bois introduced the term “double-consciousness”, a concept I believe to be just as relevant in today’s African-American communities. Double consciousness refers to what Du Bois considered an absence of “true self consciousness” (Du Bois, 1897) amongst Africans in America. In place of that absence, lies a dual awareness- awareness of one’s self combined with an awareness

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.

As early as 1909 he had projected an "Encyclopedia Africana" that would preserve and expand the store of knowledge about Black people. Encyclopedia of the Negro: Preparatory Volume appeared in 1945. Du Bois's twilight years in Ghana where devoted mainly to this task.

One of his works during this time period was a famous empirical sociological study, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899). In the study, Du Bois examined the city's African American population and made recommendations on a number of things, including school reform. This study was dedicated to "combating the pseudo-science of racial bigots"(Franklin, 1990, p. 53). Du Bois stated that the "problem was in my mind a matter of systematic investigation and intelligent understanding. The world was thinking wrong about race, because it did not know. The ultimate evil was stupidity"(Du Bois, 1940, p. 58). Du Bois deeply believed in the power of basic research to reveal truth, such as natural laws that in turn would dictate a plan of action to overcome racial injustices. From this research he decided upon an action plan of "self help, duty and discipline, efficiency, thrift, interracial economic cooperation, and group pride" to help his race (Tuttle, 1973, p.

Few men have influenced the lives of African-Americans as much as William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois is considered more of a history-maker than a historian(Aptheker, "The Historian"). Dr. Du Bois conducted the initial research on the black experience in the United States. Civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. have referred to Du Bois as a father of the Civil Rights Movement. Du Bois conducted the initial research on the black experience in the United States, and paved the way for the Pan-African and Black Power movements. This paper will describe his life, work, influence in the black community, and much publicized civil dispute with another black leader, Booker T. Washington.

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 turn-of-the-century W.E.B Du Bois wrote his seminal text The Souls of Black Folk in response to what was then called the 'Negro Problem.' The 'Negro Problem' was the question of whether African-Americans should be treated as equal within the firmament of American society and whether integration or separate but equal were more viable doctrines. Du Bois wrote against such advocates of acceptance like Booker T. Washington, and instead demanded parity for his people in terms of opportunities. In the first essay of Du Bois' book entitled "Our Spiritual Strivings," Du Bois writes of his frustrations as a young, African-American child who was intelligent and thoughtful yet all too well aware of how his race would limit his ability to pursue his studies although he

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a major sociologist historian, writer, editor, political activist, and cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During the Harlem renaissance and through his editorship of crisis magazine, he actively sought and presented the literary genius of black writers for the entire world to acknowledge and honor (Gale schools, 2004).

Du Bois introduced his concept at a meeting of the American Negro Academy in 1900. He calls attention to the gross inequities of power, wealth, opportunity and access between whites and the minority groups of the world. He also addresses the problems that could arise from the oppressed world if the continuation of oppression continued. He takes on a Karl Marx view of society when

Between 1890 and 1906, Black people were rejected from the area of politics, as southern states amended their constitutions to deny Black American citizens their voting rights that had been ratified by the Fifteenth Amendment. The beliefs of racial uplift, was an idea that placed responsibility on educated Black people for the well-being of the majority of their race. This was a reaction to the assault on African American civil and political rights, also known as “the Negro problem (Washington 8).” During this era, there were opportunities for Black people to become leaders of Black communities everywhere. African American leaders combated stereotypes by highlighting class differences among Blacks that believed in the stereotypes themselves. In 1903, W. E. B. Du Bois published the book, The Souls of Black Folk. He criticized "the old attitude of adjustment and submission" that had been expressed by Booker T. Washington in the Atlanta Compromise Address (Hill 734). Washington addressed that Southern Black people should work and submit to White political rule, while Southern White people guaranteed Black people the reception of basic educational and economic opportunities. Du Bois believed that full civil rights and increased political representation, would uplift the Black community during this time. African Americans needed the opportunities for advanced education to develop this sore of leadership, titled the “Talented Tenth”, an African-American intellectual elite

Du Bois performed many investigations, including one where he thought the social science could help solve the racial issues that African Americans were facing. Du Bois` book, The Souls of Black Folk, told the truth about black identity and the struggles African Americans faced. He made the term double consciousness prevalent. Double consciousness is described as an individual whose identity is divided into several facets. ("Double Consciousness." [DuBoisopedia ]. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Sept. 2016.) Also, another one of his investigations included The Philadelphia Negro. This was the first time a book had looked in depth with sociology, which is why Du Bois is held in high regards. Du Bois received a teaching position at Atlanta University. While he was there, he studied and wrote about African American social issues. His main goal was to encourage and help social reform. Du Bois became an academic leader and civil rights activist. In 1909, Du Bois and other people with the same thought fram founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is one of the greatest African Americans in history. He was born, 23rd February 1868 in Massachusetts. Du Bois had an unusual life, in the sense that in his early years he knew nothing of the racial discrimination prevalent in the South. He lived a life of privilege for a black in U.S. He faced neither outright discrimination nor economic difficulties. He graduated as a Valedictorian and the only colored student and even went on to become the first black to secure a doctorate degree in history, from Harvard. It was during graduation that he got first taste of the racial prejudice prevalent in the American society. He began educating himself in the history of discrimination.

Throughout the collection of essays, Du Bois places a particular emphasis on the role of education for the African-American. Through education, the African-American (who he refers to as "the Negro") is able to reach empowerment and fight against the existence of the veil. Throughout the institution of slavery, the white man oppressed the African-American. Living in captivity resulted in a loss of the sense of self and in an ability to reach an ultimately idealistic potential. Through the rise of the educated Negro, however, this collective group is able to fight against the white majority.

Du Bois was born in 1868 in Massachusetts and became the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). His life’s work was dedicated to furthering the status and lives of African Americans in the United States who had been historically and continuously exploited and discriminated against. His stance was controversial to many at the time as he was at direct odds with another significant black activist, Booker T Washington. While the latter called for eventual equality and integration through a gradual process, Du Bois urged for radical change and reform and the immediate equal