W.E.B. DuBois
right in his speeches and writing. In 1900 he gave a speech to an African American audience in Louisville, Kentucky titled “The Spirit of Europe”. In it he described that people should consider the facts, respect authority, those that are educated, and skilled, and that not all are natural born leaders. Only a few could be given the opportunity for higher education. This shows his “Talented Tenth” theory. He once gave a speech titled, “The Conservation of Races.” In it he tried to motivate African Americans to create a recognizable culture and make a difference in the world. He believed that African Americans had potential. He thought that in order eliminate the problems African Americans were facing the focus must first be on boosting the African American culture. After that, change the views of white Americans. For a large part of his life he worked toward those two goals. According to Jack Moore, Du Bois’s book “Black Reconstruction” brings together his scholarly and creative abilities and “possesses the scholarly control of technique and subject”.
According to Zhang Juguo, many believe that after the 1930’s Du Bois gave up hope that white Americans would give up discrimination. After World War II he moved away from advancing African American people and towards socialism.
W.E.B. Du Bois was a great African American thinker. According to Zhang Juguo, “He spoke with eloquence and wielded his powerful pen to enunciate his ideas.” Unfortunately during Du Bois’s time white Americans were not open-minded and African Americans did not accept his primary goals. In his later years he began losing support and seemed to travel alone. He somehow began losing trust and received bitter feelings from people. It even grew to the point of harassment. He eventually lost all hope in American democracy and the capitalistic ways. He joined the American Communist Party in 1961 and moved to Ghana, Africa. He passed away on August 27, 1961. I am confident that his accomplishments will be remembered in the future.