W.E.B Du Bois on Government Politics and Capitalism - Research Paper Example

Running head: W.E.B DU BOIS ON GOVERNMENT POLITICS AND CAPITALISM W.E.B Du Bois on Government Politics and Capitalism Insert Insert Insert Instructor’s Name 14 June 2011 W.E.B Du Bois on Government Politics and Capitalism Introduction William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, a well-known social scientist, political activist, author, editor, and educator, was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (Mueller, 1993). According to his biography by Gale group, after high school, he joined Fisk in Nashville in 1884 where he excelled in his studies, graduating with a B.A. degree in 1888. He then proceeded to Harvard University where his scholarly direction was shaped by the intellectuals of the time including William James, George Palmer, George Santayana, and Albert Bushnell Hart, and graduated with a master’s degree in 1891. During that time at Harvard, he had opportunity to present a speech on slavery, which propelled him to the national lime light. From 1892 to 1894, he traveled to Germany where he studied history, economics, politics, and political economy at the University of Berlin and completed a thesis on agricultural economics on a Slater Fund grant (Mueller, 1993). His travel to Germany enabled him to understand the racism structure in the U.S in a broader sense, something which shaped his belief in fighting for the rights of the black people and commitment to scholarly career in effort to uplift the black people through education. Upon his return to the United States in 1895, he became the first black person ever to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, and his doctoral thesis, the suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published in the Harvard Historical Monograph Series (Mueller, 1993). From that time, he settled in a very successful career as an educationist and author, while still being very active in championing for the black rights especially in political, social, and economical fronts. His academics writings include The Souls of Black Folk, The Philadelphia Negro and many monographs, essays, memoirs, poems, novels, and plays, that he wrote about his life, political beliefs, black identity, call for end to racial discrimination and various issues affecting the black people (Mueller, 1993). Through his activism, he was very instrumental in the formation of the Niagara Movement and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was instrumental in organizing successful protest against racial discrimination of the black people and advocating for civil and political rights of the African Americans. Du Bois was very firm on his belief about liberation of black people, a thing that made him differ with prominent black people activists such as Booker T. Washington who advocated for vocational education for black people and use of ones economic strength towards gaining acceptance in the white society and citizenship. In contrary, Du Bois advocated for total liberation through granting the black people complete and equal political and civil rights, and use of higher education as a tool towards advancement of the black people. In addition, through his activism, he was a strong supporter of Pan-Africanism in calling for self-rule of the black people around the world and was successful in organizing various Pan-African conferences around the world. Eventually, he distanced himself from black civil rights movements, joined the Communist party in 1961, and immigrated to Ghana, becoming a citizen in 1963 shortly before his death in the same year in Accra (Mueller, 1993). Literature review In his quest to participate in the liberation and recognition of the black people as equal citizens in the United States, early in his career, he carried out various studies of Africa Americans communities, publishing many papers with aim to use social science to come up with solution for racism. Gradually, in his studies, he realized that racism, inequalities, and social stratification between the black society and the white society was very advanced; thus, for social transformation to be realized, there was need for protest, political lobbying and highlighting of social discrimination countrywide. Early in his career, Du Bois advocated for black capitalism, believing that by granting the blacks equal rights, political and civil rights, removing racial segregation and enabling them to access higher education, they could progress social-economically successfully and achieve social change required to wade off racism. Later in career, from 1910s, he shifted to political left, being drawn to socialist ideas and supporting Marxism for the rest of his life (Chew, 1996). According to Juguo (2001), Du Bois, during his time at Fisk University, he developed better understanding of the blacks’ problem, which is clearly highlighted by one of his statement, “the world was split into white and black halves, and where the darker half was held back by race prejudice and legal bonds, as well as by deep ignorance and dire poverty.” While at Fisk, he interacted with his classmates mainly from the South and learned about racial prejudice and violence, which the blacks received from the southern whites. To understand the situation further, he traveled to eastern Tennessee and taught at an African American public school during vacations. There, he experienced the plight of the African Americans and planned to champion for the rise of the black people like Moses led the Israelites out of slavery (Juguo, 2001, P.7). Deeply agitated by the situation in 1887, he wrote an open letter to people of southern, condemning the rampant prejudice and the massive inequalities especially African Americans lack of voting rights, rights to fair trail, equal economic and educational opportunities and segregation in theaters, churches and on the trains (Juguo, 2001, P.7). At this early age of his career, he was calling for the white society to allow the blacks to access equal civil and political rights, equal educational and economic opportunities to enhance them progress socio-economically (black capitalism) and improve the common interest and reduce racial biasness between the two races. In his arguments, he noted that what he was advocating for was equality rights especially on civil and political rights through allowing blacks to participate in democracy and the colored people of the world being granted authority of self-rule across the world; however, he was not calling for social equality or merge (Juguo, 2001, P.7). According to Barkin (2000), Du Bois’ stay in Germany greatly changed his perspective of racism from that of self-made and provincial understanding, to a broader perspective that helped in formulating the strategy he would use to mitigate racism from 1894 to 1910, and through his activism with Niagara Movement and NAACP. Later in his career up to his death, he changed his political stand to leftist, gradually embracing socialism and began attacking capitalism in his works and involvements. According to his essay, Negroes and the Crisis of Capitalism in the United States, published in 1953, he argued that the African Americans who had embraced capitalism in thinking on money making, saving and investing culture were very changed. This is because, when they hired labor, they would exploit it the same way their white counterparts would, “the colored landlord is no different from the white,” and when the Negroes called for their rights in regard to mistreatment by both white and black employers, they are branded communist (Barkin, 2000). He was opposed to Cold War between capitalist countries of Europe and the U.S against the socialist Russia, and also opposed U.S involvement in the Korean War, arguing that the U.S was trying to spread its old habit of murder, racism and barbarism powered by capitalistic ideologies, and championed for world peace and mutual coexistence (Juguo, 2001, P.152). In 1950s, he became more socialist, visiting China, Russia and other socialist countries, and more active in crusading for liberation of the African continent from its colonial masters and formation independent African government based on self-rule aimed at the benefit of African masses. He also advised Ghana and Nigeria to seek support from the Soviet Union in establishing their independent economic structures and should not partnership with western capitalist counties, since any form of capitalism was not good (Juguo, 2001, P.157). The next part of this paper will evaluate a study, which Du Bois and other researchers carried out on school population, attendance, and illiteracy of the Negroes of the Seventh Ward between 1850 and 1897. The results and analysis of that study follow below. Results Source: Du Bois, W.E.B., Anderson, E., & Eaton, I., 1899 P. 90 Source: Du Bois, W.E.B., Anderson, E., & Eaton, I., 1899 P. 92 Source: Du Bois, W.E.B., Anderson, E., & Eaton, I., 1899 P. 92 Discussion Analysis of the results revealed that, first, approximately 11 percent of the school going children attended school less than the full term and those who attended the whole term, exhibited irregularity through absenteeism and tardiness. Secondly, around 13 percent of Negroes in the Seventh Ward were totally illiterate. Thirdly, around 10 percent of the men were illiterate while females posted 17 percent illiteracy among themselves. Lastly, most of those who were considered literate had just acquired only a partial common school education (Du Bois, Anderson, & Eaton, 1899, pp. 92-93). These results highlighted the poor state of the blacks’ education during that period which was mainly caused by racial prejudice, segregation, and lack of equal educational opportunities. Conclusion That study, though not very relevant to the current situation, can be used in evaluating and analyzing situations where minority or racial discriminated groups are not receiving education as expected. Du Bois will always be remembered for his contribution to the scholarly fields, advocacy for equal rights for the black people, and the struggles he made to mitigate racism and restoration of global peace. His works will always motivate the oppressed people in the world to fight for the civil and political rights. Reference List Barkin, K.D., 2000. Berlin Days, 1892–1894: W. E. B. Du Bois and German Political Economy. Boundary 2, Vol. 27 Issue (3) p79, 23p. (Online). Available from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=108&sid=614cedac-6808-4a49-ab54-1785e6c15d89%40sessionmgr11 (Accessed on June 14, 2011). Chew, R., 1996. W.E.B. Dubois. Sociologist, Author & Civil Rights Leader 1868 -1963. (Online). Available from: http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/dubois.html (Accessed on June 14, 2011). Du Bois, W.E.B., 1953. Negroes and the Crisis of Capitalism in the United States. Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine. April 2003. (Online). Available from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=107&sid=614cedac-6808-4a49-ab54-1785e6c15d89%40sessionmgr11 (Accessed on June 14, 2011). Du Bois, W.E.B., Anderson, E., & Eaton, I., 1899. The Philadelphia Negro: a social study. PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Juguo, Z., 2001. W. E. B. Du Bois: the quest for the abolition of the color line. Routledge. Mueller, M., 1993. Du Bois, W. E. B. 1868–1963: Contemporary Black Biography. (Online). Available from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/W_E_B_Du_Bois.aspx (Accessed on June 14, 2011). Read More