William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, and died on August 27, 1963. He was an American sociologist, socialist, Pan-Africanist, civil rights activist, historian, author, editor, and theorists. He was born and grew up at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in a relatively integrated and tolerant community, which significantly influenced his work. His education was also a significant contributor to his theories. Du Bois's writings are voluminous and prolific, and he contributed immensely to social sciences like sociology, philosophy, and history. He majored in the sociology and philosophy of race, and his race theory has been studied and applied extensively in sociology. He contributed significantly to the sociology of race through the extensive analysis of the race concept as manifested in the black Americans' experience. The American political and social system challenges occasioned by white supremacist policies founded on the subjugation of non-white people influenced his sociological work, including his theories. He bases his discussions on the biological concepts of race and the socio-historical idea of race, emphasizing applying the socio-historical concept of race. Race is the main feature of Du Bois's writings, and his theory about race evolved throughout his life. The most effective and applied approach of Du Bois is the Critical Race Theory which challenged the traditional social, cultural, and legal establishments in American society.
In Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where Du Bois was born, there was no racial discrimination, and hence blacks and whites lived together at peace with each other. They worshiped together in churches, and children went to the same schools. In his writings, such as "Dusk of Dawn," he describes his early life considering his playmates as "normal and pleasant" (Zuckerman, 2004). However, when he was growing up, he started to feel that he was different from other children. He says that some people saw his brown color as a "misfortune," and some thought that that was a crime. After completing his high school education, he joined Fisk University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology and history. He then entered Harvard University, where he earned a master's degree and later with a doctorate. He was a professor of sociology and history, where he did extensive work on developing sociological theories. He was opposed to Jim Crow laws, lynching, and racial discrimination in employment and education (Morris, 2019). He supported Pan-Africanism, and he organized Pan-African meetings aimed at fighting for independence in Africa from European powers.
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Du Bois was an accomplished and a prolific author, and he authored many essays such as "The Soul of Black Folks." He used various methods and therefore treated sociology as a science by using empirical research and both quantitative and qualitative analysis. This was contrary to the methods used at the time, whereby observations were superficial such that the analyst would drive through without an understanding of the community he/she was theoretically studying (Morris, 2019). The studies led to erroneous assumptions such as the inferiority of the blacks. Du Bois collected a significant amount of data and observed the black communities, and that helped him to come up and develop theories. He came up with an explanation of the contributing factors to societal ills such as crime and poverty.
In Du Bois's writings about race, he primarily covers two concepts, the biological concept of race and the socio-historical idea of race. The biological concept is intended to categorize people based on their physical commonalities. Traditionally, there were assumptions that the cognitive, psychological, and mental capacities of people could be found on the concept of biological race. Contrary to that argument is the socio-historical concept, which argued that race accounts for the cumulative social and historical conditions and a group's shared experiences. (Rashid, 2011). Therefore, the development of the socio-historical concept by Du Bois allowed him to prove wrong biological essentialism. It also helped him in promoting African American solidarity. He encouraged the application of social sciences in examining race, which he argued would bring more insights and an accurate understanding of race.
Du Bois' speech "The Conservation of Races" at the American Negro Academy in 1897 was one of his race theories. In the speech, Du Bois defined race as a vast family of humans who share a common language and blood sharing history, impulses, and traditions, and they voluntarily or involuntarily strive to accomplish certain conceived ideals about life. In the definition, Du Bois shows that race theory is an amalgamation of biological and socio-historical concepts. Based primarily on physiological differences, Du Bois speaks of eight distinct races (Bell, Grosholz, & Stewart, 2014). However, he does support the suggestion that non-whites are inferior to whites. He argues that the differences in physical appearances should be accounted for while defining race. The physical dissimilarities that Du Bois talks about are color, cranial measurements, and blood.
Du Bois, in his statement called "The Conservation of Races," argues that to ignore the physical disparities of humans is to disregard the development and history of the race concept. He said that the most profound differences were psychical and spiritual, which were based on the physical, and for that reason, his race theory in 1897 included the biological concepts. However, he argued that race was not the most critical qualifier of the race, but rather the primary qualify was common history, similar habits, consciousness, and common religion and laws which strive together to attain some ideals of life (Zuckerman, 2004).
According to Du Bois, culture is the central component of race. In his work, "The Conservation of Races," Du Bois links the cultural theory of race directly to addressing racism issues. In "The Conservation of Race," Du Bois argues that one should pay special attention to race's cultural dimension. When he examines race from a cultural perspective, Du Bois was able to unearth the influence politics has on race theory (Rashid, 2011). Since politics influences the American cultural landscape, it directly divides people into dominant and subordinate groups, which confirms the socio-historical concept.
Du Bois' sociological theory of race evolved so much that it moved away from the biological concept. In his proclamation, he argued that "there are no races," saying that there were no pure breeds of people. His theory proposed great groups with a shared history that shares the same interests and common ancestry (Morris, 2019). Such a group also has a shared experience and claim that takes it back to common blood and not races.
When defining a social problem, Du Bois said that it was the failure of an organized social group to achieve its ideals due to the failure to adopt some of the desired lines of actions to the given conditions of life. Du Bois explained the evolving social problems, which were referred to as Negro problems, as baffling adjustment of conditions and actions which are critical to progress. The American society had many failures in enacting the ideal, which was the incorporation of the Negro masses into the American society and hence causing Negro problems.
In his essay titled "The Souls of Black Folks," he unequivocally proclaims that the problem of the twentieth century was that of the color line. He borrowed the term color line from Frederick Douglass. He popularized it with the aim of representing the injustice of the separate but equal doctrine that was there in American political and social life. He challenged the ongoing notion that black Americans were responsible for the failure of the Reconstruction Era (Bell, Grosholz, & Stewart, 2014). He crushed with Booker T. Washington, who was a philosopher and an influential Black leader. Booker T. Washington preached the philosophy of accommodation, arguing that the Black Americans should accept discrimination for the time being and that they should elevate themselves through hard work and economic gain, which will earn them the respect of the whites. In Du Bois writing, "The Souls of Black Folks," he argues that the strategy proposed by Washington would perpetuate the oppression of the blacks rather than freeing them to form it. The attack by Du Bois created an opposition against Washington among black intellectuals, which polarized them much. The black community was divided into two wings, one being the "conservatives" supporting Washington, and the other referred to as the "radicals" supporting Du Bois while opposing Washington.
In 1905, Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement, whose objective was to oppose Booker T. Washington. The movement was important as an ideological forerunner and a direct inspiration of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909/1910 (Rashid, 2011). Du Bois played a significant role in the association after becoming the director of publicity and research and editor of its magazine, "The Crisis." As the director of publicity and research, he wielded a lot of influence on middle-class blacks and progressive whites. In the magazine "The Crisis," Du Bois directed an agitation that was mostly bitter and sarcastic, targeting the white Americans. The magazine also served as a source of information and pride to Black Americans. The magazine often published content from young Black Americans. In opposition to the lynch legislation, Du Bois led racial protests that followed WW1. During that period NAACP became the leading protest group, and Du Bois acted as its leading figure (Rashid, 2011). Du Bois advocated for African American nationalism which was in opposition to the NAACP'S commitment to integration, and therefore, he resigned from the NAACP board and "The Crisis." Later he returned to NAACP. During the period, he placed the grievances of African Americans before the United Nations, where he served as a consultant to the United Nations founding convention where he authored "An Appeal to the World" in 1947.
In conclusion, Du Bois made a significant contribution to sociological theory through his writings and speeches published. He advanced the field by sociology, a science whereby he applied scientific data collection methods and analysis to come up with valid results and conclusions. He argued advocated for examining race through the lens of social sciences, which he claimed would bring a more accurate and insightful understanding of the concept. He developed the race theory, which evolved from biological concept to socio-historical concept, and later introduced the cultural theory of race. The biological concept, which was mostly used by sociologists, categorized people based on physical commonalities, and assumptions about psychological, mental, and cognitive capacity were made on the concept. The socio-historical concept he found his race theory on accounted for shared group experience and the cumulative historical and social conditions. He influenced many sociologists through his race theory, and most scholars based their race theories on his work. He influenced many people through associations like NAACP, which brought together black professionals and championed the rights of African Americans in America.
References
Bell, B. W., Grosholz, E. R., & Stewart, J. B. (2014). WEB Du Bois on race and culture . Routledge.
Morris, A. (2019). Social Movement Theory: Lessons from the Sociology of web Du Bois. Mobilization: An International Quarterly , 24 (2), 125-136.
Rashid, K. (2011). 'To break asunder along the lesions of race.' The Critical Race Theory of WEB Du Bois. Race Ethnicity and Education , 14 (5), 585-602.
Zuckerman, Phil. The social theory of WEB Du Bois . Sage Publications, 2004.
