W.E.B. Du Bois: Racial Injustice & Education - Essay Sample

Introduction

W.E.B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1863. Du Bois grew up in a white American town. He went to school with the whites and was greatly supported in school by the white teachers. Du Bois moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1885, where he attended Fisk University. It was here that he encountered the Jim Crow laws and began to analyses the massive problems caused by American racism. After graduating from Frisk University, Du Bois joined Harvard University. He was a scholar and an activist and was the initial African American person to attain a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895 (Bieze & Gasman 2012). Du Bois later enrolled for doctoral at the Friedrich-Wilhelms Universitat and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the university in 1958. He was an African American who influenced African American rights activism in the early 20th century. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in a significant way and was also the most famous spokesperson for African American rights during the first half of the 20th century. W.E.B. Du Bois was also a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909(Bieze & Gasman 2012). This paper will argue that W.E.B. Du Bois's contribution to public health was immense in regards to consideration of the role played by social inequities on health.

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Du Bois contributed to public health by pointing out that socioeconomic status, racism, and migration affected racial differences in health. He saw the “negro problem” where they had a high level of poor health to be as a result of racial inequality in the US. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, medical professionals believed that any observed racial disparity in health was a result of innate biological differences between the racial groups. However, Du Bois saw the racial differences in health as pinpointing the differences in social advancements. Du Bois believed that it was a reflection of the massively different conditions under which whites and blacks lived.

The Climate of the Time Period In Terms of Political, Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Technological Context in Which W. E. B. Dubois Worked

W. E. B. Dubois existed between 1868 and 1961. It was a time when there was so much inequality in the US. The Jim Crow laws promoted discrimination and inhibited black suffrage. It was difficult for African Americans to be educated because Du Bois was the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. from Harvard University (Bieze & Gasman 2012). He also financed his education from working, scholarships, and support from white teachers. The black Americans faced a high level of poverty, illiteracy, racial discrimination, poor standards of living, high mortality, which led to more suffering for the African American people.

African American women mostly worked as domestic workers for their white bosses. However, the black males had to work by providing their manual labor in the fields. They were underpaid for their labor and overworked. The lived-in desolate conditions such as slums which affected their health and wellbeing (Zuckerman, 2002).

When he secured a job at Atlanta University, he believed that he had learned a lot about the African American experience in the south. Booker t. Washington, who was an advisor to the government, believed that African Americans were supposed to concentrate on gaining vocational skills. However, Du Bois believed that African Americans needed to go through classical education. He thought that without an education, there would be no class of leadership that would fight for the rights of the downtrodden people, and all the gains that African Americans had made as a result of many years of activism and struggle would be stripped away from them by the legal loopholes (Zuckerman, 2002).

During this era, there were substantial political, social, economic, and health disparities among the whites and the blacks, which Du Bois attributed to the persistence of inequality in the country. Du Bois was born as a freeman even though the conditions of slavery still existed during the time, especially in the South.

Technological advancements were minimal even though he believed that technological advancements were the most crucial way that African Americans could uplift themselves from the subhuman conditions that they lived in.

The Personal Beliefs of W. E. B. Dubois That Prompted This Work

W. E. B. Dubois believed that African Americans deserved to be equally treated like people in the US. They deserved to get an education, the right to vote and leadership, and to have better conditions of living. He was more concerned about speaking about justice and equality for African Americans.

Du Bois supported Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism. It was the belief that African Americans had a common agenda and interest and were supposed to work together in the fight for their freedom. Further, initially, he believed that social science could offer knowledge to address race problems in America. However, he changed his mind because of the contagious racism that was promoted by Jim Crow law, race riots, lynching (Martin Jr, 1962). He came to believe that social change could only be accomplished through agitation and protest.

W. E. B. Dubois was against Booker T. Washington's beliefs that African Americans had a role of proving themselves as hard workers to earn the respect of their white counterparts. Du Bois believed this step would only advance oppression rather than freeing black people from the oppression they were facing at the time (Martin Jr, 1962). These disagreements cemented the opposition to Booker T. Washington from the black intellectuals. It also divided leaders of the black community into conservative and radicals.

How W. E. B. Dubois Overcame or Confronted Any Adversities

Du Bois overcame his adversities by working closely with other black intellectuals as well as human rights activists and supporters. Together with his allies, they developed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He was also one of the founders of the Niagara Movement, which was a black protest organization that pushed for equal rights in the early 1900s (Bieze & Gasman 2012).

Du Bois also supported his work with various data-backed research works in various monographs, poems, novels, plays, memoirs. They allowed people to understand his ideas, opinions, and come to an agreement with them. All these gave an account of his life as well as political beliefs.

Dubois's apparent disagreement with Booker T. Washington led to two factions of the black protest movement. They tried to address this situation and resolve their differences at a conference at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Washington, DuBois, and a Washington supporter were selected to join a committee of Twelve for the Advancement of the Negro Race (Martin Jr, 1962). However, Du Bois resigned later as he believed that Washington had a pervasive control over the committee.

Washington had massive support from whites and therefore was able to cause the demise of the Du Bois group in the Niagara movement. The failure of the Niagara movement was also as a result of extreme racism at the time. Du Bois came to believe that there was a need for an interracial organization that that is why the NAACP, which was an interracial organization, was formed. This organization sought to fight against discrimination through political lobbying, nationwide publicity, and court litigation.

Final Outcome of W. E. B. Dubois’s Contribution to Community or Public Health

W. E. B. Dubois’s changed the mentality and attitudes of people regarding African Americans and health. He believed that it was important for public health to consider other factors other than innate biological differences such a social, environmental, economic, and other factors that had a significant impact on health (Williams & Sternthal, 2010). He believed that migration affected health negatively. Also, African Americans who had been subjected to racism and segregation had poor health due to these issues. Previously issues concerning social inequities were not considered in health. Du Bois played a huge role in transforming public health because data on social inequities in health began to be reported. He also alerted people regarding the influence of social status, gender, and race on health disparities and outcomes.

What W. E. B. Dubois Contribution Did For Overall Community or Public Health at the Time

W. E. B. Dubois sought to prove that African Americans were not inferior, as most scholars believed at the time due to the poor health that most suffered at the time. He wanted to prove that it is the social conditions, racism, and discrimination that had caused most African Americans to fall ill. It was not their inherent genetic makeup that had a problem. Instead, it was the environment that encouraged disease to spread and to cause illness to a large number of African Americans. He wanted to fight for equality in the US (Williams & Sternthal, 2010).

Why This Contribution Was So Important At That Particular Point in History

W. E. B. Dubois's contribution was significant because it allowed people to be more conscious about the issue of racism, discrimination, and segregation. It allowed people to think about the effects of racism on African Americans, opening their eyes to the fact that it was a grave issue that affected all aspects of life, including the health of African Americans.

References

Bieze, M. S., & Gasman, M. (Eds.). (2012). Booker T. Washington Rediscovered. JHU Press.

Martin Jr, J. A. (1962). A study of two contrasting types of American Negro leadership: Booker T. Washington and William EB DuBois.

Williams, D. R., & Sternthal, M. (2010). Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health: sociological contributions. Journal of health and social behavior, 51 Suppl(Suppl), S15–S27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383838

Zuckerman, P. (2002). The sociology of religion of WEB Du Bois. Sociology of Religion, 63(2), 239-253. https://doi.org/10.2307/3712567