I grew up in the segregated South but read many books. Our school library had volumes of books by influential authors. My parents were poor, but when they could spare extra money, bought some of the books. They believed that it was important to give their children, and all young children, the message that life is worthwhile, and in spite of our circumstances, we were valued. It was important to read in print the life, wisdom, and guidance from influential Black people. The values we learned at young age helped nurture us and prepared us for life. We were always told because we were Black, we had to be twice as good and prepared. Dad kept copies of the books he bought in his military footlocker.
My parents passed many years ago, but I am the keeper of their footlocker. Dad served in the Army during WWII and kept everything he owned in his footlocker. He had many books he read over the years and books he used to teach us. The book, The Souls Of Black Folk, by Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, was included in his collection. I read this book in high school but decided to read it again now that I am a seasoned senior citizen.
Dr. Du Bois believed education was the backbone of the Black community. Education gave us a sense of not only mission but possibility. We judged America by looking in our own segregated communities. In the segregated South, we were encouraged to have value, meaning, and maintain pride. We had to survive. We were encouraged to look forward to opportunities even though we were not sure if we would get them. Our role was to be ready if they came. Like the civil rights activists, we were trained to operate with dignity in the face of adversity.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1868. Throughout his life he was controversial. He was a bright and ambitious student. Like other Black people, he experienced tension s and contradictions inherent in American society. He became a sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist. He researched the color line of racial oppression and injustice. He called the color line, “The Veil” because it was an existence of a barrier prohibiting genuine understanding and equality between Black and white people. He wrote that this veil is worn by all Black people in America because the view of the world and potential economic, political, and social opportunities are different from white people. He worked his entire life to remedy the veil. He believed that higher education to be one of the most effective tools of emancipation for the Black community. He was also one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
His book, The Souls of Black Folk, was first published in 1903. It is described as social documentary, part history, party autobiography, and part anthropological field report. The book has been printed numerous times over the years. This book introduced the idea of “double consciousness,” in which Black Americans are required to consider not only their view of themselves but also the view of the world, especially white people, has on them during their lives.
In 1888, Du Bois graduated from Fisk University, a historically black college or university (HBCU) in Nashville. He taught school during the summer to support his studies. This was his first experience with Southern racism which consisted of Jim Crow laws, bigotry, lynchings, and voter suppression. After graduation, he attended Harvard College and graduated with a second bachelor’s degree in history. Harvard did not accept his credits from Fisk. He received a scholarship to attend graduate school at Harvard and majored in sociology.
In 1892, he received a fellowship to attend the University of Berlin for graduate work. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and studied with some of the most prominent social scientists. During his time in Germany, he found himself outside the American world, looking in. He was regarded as a man, instead of a curiosity. After returning from Europe, in 1895, he obtained a Ph. D. from Harvard University. He was the first Black graduate.
He wished to make it possible for people to be both Black (Black people were called Negro then) and an American. He wrote, “What would it take for Black people to not be cursed and spit upon in America? What would it take to not have the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face?” He posed a question, “How does it feel to be a problem?” In his 1897 article in The Atlantic Monthly titled, “Striving of the Negro People,” he described this as “two-ness.” Black people were American and Negro; two souls, two thoughts; two ideals in one dark body. This article described for white people how it felt to be a victim of racism. He did not believe in complete integration that included behaving like white people. He supported integration into civil, government society, and educational institutions. He believed that Black Americans should always embrace their African heritage as they worked and lived in the United States. His vision was a world where freedom and equality applied to all people.
Even though he respected them and had some similarities, he was known to oppose some of the views of other noted Black intellectuals like Booker T. Washington and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. It would be impossible to write about this interesting prolific writer and intellectual in one blog post.
At the end of his life, he was invited to Ghana to create a new encyclopedia on the African diaspora, funded by the government of Africa. He was 93 years old. He acquired citizenship but passed away two years later, in 1963. He was interred in Ghana. He devoted his life to fighting discrimination and racism.
Francie Mae. December 10, 2022
References
Du Bois, W.E. B. 1994. The Souls Of Black Folk. Reprinted from 1903edition by A.C. McClurg and Co., Chicago, IL. 1994 edition. Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, N.Y.
W.E. B. Du Bois. Website. Wikipedia. Accessed December 10, 2022.