Du Bois Flashcards by Mia Merli

Who was he?

African American social theorist and activist

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What was Du Bois’ early life?

Raised in Northern US
- Lived in a small town where there wasn’t as much discrimination

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What was Du Bois’ education?

Studied at Fisk University
Studied at Harvard (First Black PhD student)
University of Berlin

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What was Du Bois’ PhD topic?

The African slave trade

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When Du Bois went to the University of Berlin, who did he meet? Through this interaction what did he realize?

Met Max Weber
became aware that the best way to study the slave trade was through sociology

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What was Du Bois’ scholarly career?

Was rejected at teaching in Northern states
Worked at a University for Black students (Wilberforce University)
University of Pennsylvania (faced a lot of racism by other White staff) (did research on Black people in Phili)
Taught sociology at the University of Atlanda

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What was Du Bois’ contribution to political activism?

Helped form the NAACP

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What did he create within the NAACP?

The Crisis, the NAACP’s magazine

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What happened with his political affiliation?

Lost faith in capitalism and became interested in socialism and communism
Made trips to the Soviet Union and joined the communist party in the US
Moved to Ghana to evade government charges for being a communist

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What was significant about the day he died?

Died on August 27th, one day before Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech.

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Why was he largely ignored during his time by mainstream sociology?

he was black
Never presented his ideas in conventional terms

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What was his shift in political position?

Liberal reformist position
- The problem of racial inequality could be solved by changing social aspects of society
Radical leftist position
- Thought that the problem of racial inequality could only be solved by restructuring society; more specifically a revolution to overthrow capitalism

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What was Du Bois’ approach to sociology?

Not conventional
Never presented an overarching theoretical perspective
Never presented theoretical ideas in abstract and formal terms

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What were the research methods used in his book “The Philadelphia Negro”?

§ Involved interviewing Black people in approx. 2500 households
§ Based on induction

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What was his research goals in his study?

§ Gather data to challenge some existing theoretical ideas
§ Interested in challenging ideas from White historians and social theorists

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What were the perspectives of Black people by White historians and social theorists?

· They suggested that something was wrong with Black people
· Supposedly Black people had innate inferiority and ability to advance
· Therefore, Black people were often associated with negative social conditions, such as being unemployed, being poor, and committing crime.

What did Du Bois discover about historical developments of African Americans?

· Found historical evidence that Black people in Philadelphia had steadily improved their lives after emancipation in the 1700s
· Started churches, schools, small businesses, and entered the trades and professions
· This countered the idea that Black people were somehow innate to have the inability to advance

What did Du Bois theorize about class positions within Black people (grades)

· Grade 1: respectable families earning enough income to live well
· Grade 2: Respectable working-class people with steady-paying work
· Grade 3: poor and very poor without enough steady income
· Grade 4: The “lowest class of criminals, prostitutes, and loafers

What did Du Bois believe was the reason for Black people being in Grades 3 and 4?

i) The legacy of slavery
ii) Competition for jobs
iii) Racial discrimination - most important to Du Bois

How did the legacy of slavery contribute to grades 3 and 4?

Black people who immigrated from the south to the north had a more recent experience of slavery which limited their job opportunities
· Their former treatment as slaved didn’t prepare them for the industrialized north.

How did racial discrimination contribute to grades 3 and 4?

· The unemployment, poverty, and crime associated with Black people resulted in racial discrimination
· Du Bois said that racial discrimination is causing these things instead

How did the competition for jobs contribute to grades 3 and 4?

· Between Black people and White immigrants
o People preferred White immigrants
· Restricted to jobs that are very similar to jobs that are similar to slavery

How did Du Bois believe that social change would occur?

Called for White people to recognize how their mistreatment of Black people have led to all the social problems
Called for Black people to protest against prejudice and mistreatment
§ Devote greater efforts to bettering themselves and doing more to educate their children

What were Du Bois’ 3 major works?

Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil
Dusk of Dawn: A Race Concept
3/. The Souls of Black Folk

What was Du Bois' 3 major concepts?

1. The colour-line 2. The veil 3. Double Consciousness

Describe Du Bois' concept of the colour-line

- The role of race and racism in history and society - Thought of the colour-line as describing the forks between Black and White Americans in the south

Describe Du Bois' concept of the veil

- Clear separation or barrier between Black and White people - Thin material in which they can see each other - Can be lifted to some degree - Was sometimes impossible to see through (during slavery)

Describe Du Bois' concept of double-consciousness

Consciousness of being both Black and American while also being judged by the dominant White culture of the United States - 2 souls: being Black and being American

Where does Du Bois theorize that double-consciousness emerged?

Emerges in a social context where subjugated people and their lived experiences are invisible to dominant social patterns

What do contemporary theorists argue about his concept of double-consciousness?

Some argue that his concept of double-consciousness very usefully captures the impact of macro sociological and structural processes, more specifically social inequality and racism on the micro sociological context which is that of self-consciousness.

What does "The Talented Truth" mean?

The small group of people at the top that were the leaders of the Black communityW

What is a benevolent despot? What did he theorize?

Benevolent despot is an enlightenment thinker that Du Bois hoped would deal with the lack of training of African Americans and the discrimination practiced against them - No benevolent despot to be seen so he put the responsibility on Black people to spark change

What are contemporary applications of Du Bois' work?

- His pholosophical understanding of race and the race problem - Concept of the double-consciousness

What issues did he identify within the global exploitation of Black people?

- Colonialism - Britain and France had colonies in Africa and gianed wealth by exploiting the raw materials of their African colonies and the labour of Black people in these colonies

What issues did DB identify of class interests and race relations?

- DB pointed to conflicts within the working class (on top of the conflicts between WC and capitalists) as were were tensions between Black workers and White workers that made it difficult to join together - Working class White people were more inclined to align with the perspectives of teh White people who made up the capitalist class compared to the working class Black people which they had a lot in common with

In terms of attention and amount of time accorded to the strive towards economic success, what did DB identify as the difference between White and Black Americans?

- Thought that there were more important, "higher," things in life that had been lost in sight of my White Americans - African Americans had not yet accorded as much importance to material success, DB hoped that they would never attach too much importance, like White Americans.