| Born | 23 February 1868 (died 27 August 1963) |
| Name | W.E.B. Du Bois |
| Impact | Highly influential figure in African-American community and beyond |
| Occupation | Intellectual • Activist • Sociologist |
| Time period | Early 20th century |
| Notable work | Advocated for racial equality • Promoted Black separatism • Proposed independent African-American nation |
| Views and positions | Initially advocated gradual integration and legal reforms • Later became vocal proponent of Black separatism • Evolved views on race, economics, and politics |
William Edward Burghardt "W.E.B." Du Bois (1868-1963) was an African-American sociologist, civil rights activist, author, and pioneering theorist on the politics of race. He was a lifelong advocate for the advancement of African-Americans and a leading voice in the struggle for racial equality, though his views shifted over time from a focus on gradual integration to a more radical embrace of Black nationalism and separatism.
Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to a free African-American family. He excelled academically, becoming the first African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University in 1895. His doctoral dissertation, ''The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870'', was a groundbreaking work of historical scholarship.
After completing his studies, Du Bois took a teaching position at the historically black Atlanta University. There, he began conducting pioneering sociological research on the lives and experiences of African-Americans, which would inform much of his future activism.
In 1905, Du Bois co-founded the Niagara Movement, an early civil rights organization that challenged the more gradualist approach of Booker T. Washington and demanded immediate, radical reforms to end racial segregation and discrimination. The group's 1906 manifesto called for full political, civil and legal equality, as well as the end of the Jim Crow system.
Though the Niagara Movement only lasted a few years, it paved the way for the formation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in 1909, with Du Bois serving as the organization's director of publications and research. In this role, he used the influential ''Crisis'' magazine to advocate for civil rights legislation and bring national attention to issues facing African-Americans.
Over time, Du Bois' views on how to achieve racial equality evolved, becoming increasingly separatist and nationalist. While he had initially supported integration and legal reforms, he grew disillusioned with the slow pace of change and the compromises made by more moderate civil rights leaders.
In the 1920s, Du Bois began openly advocating for the creation of an independent New Africa, a self-governing African-American nation to be carved out of the Southern states. He argued that full integration into white-dominated American society was impossible, and that African-Americans needed to build their own economic, political and cultural institutions.
This put Du Bois at odds with figures like Booker T. Washington and later Martin Luther King Jr., who continued to push for gradual desegregation and assimilation. The NAACP distanced itself from Du Bois' more radical vision, leading him to resign in 1934.
In the 1940s, Du Bois founded the ''New Africa'' movement, which sought to organize African-Americans towards the goal of seceding from the United States and establishing an independent nation. This vision gained some traction, especially in the poorer black communities of the Deep South.
As the New Africa movement grew, Du Bois was increasingly ostracized by the mainstream civil rights establishment. In 1961, at the age of 93, he moved to the newly formed nation of New Africa, where he lived in self-imposed exile until his death in 1963.
Though a controversial and divisive figure, Du Bois' influence on black politics, economics, and social theory is undeniable. His early work on racial oppression and his later advocacy for Black self-determination profoundly shaped 20th century African-American thought. The New Africa he envisioned never fully materialized, but his impact on the struggle for racial justice continues to resonate.
