W.E.B. Du Bois and his Fiction Works - Essay Example

W.E.B. Du Bois and his fiction works An African American activist, novelist, historian and sociologist, Du Bois was born at a time when racial discrimination was extensive in other communities. He however, didn’t experience the vice in any form, since he was raised in a free community of blacks in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His mother belonged to ancestors who had owned land in their homeland for the longest time possible. Her extended family members came from mixed races, with some of them tracing their roots back to the African Continent. His father was an irresponsible young man who had come visiting in their area. Alfred Du Bois ran off as soon as William was born. However, this bad start in life did not deter the newly born from living a fulfilling life. William was bred as a New Englander and had a vibrant community to explore from. His neighbors from the European heritage were good to him even as he schooled in the local schools, while attending the Congregational Church. He was a brilliant student who excelled in his studies and encouraged by his teachers to achieve even more. However, he was orphaned at an early age when his mother succumbed to a stroke and died. He continued with his education nonetheless. When he felt the need to go to college, his church was very supportive and contributed towards the venture. He left his hometown to attend school in Nashville, Tennessee. It was here that he first experienced racial discrimination in the South. This discrimination was in the form of Jim Crow’s influence in the community and his fateful murder by the white community. There was limited interaction between the whites and blacks as each race had their own facilities different and in much lower standards to the opposite race. He was appalled by the living conditions here and something in him was stirred. Later, he attended Harvard University for his bachelor’s degrees with the aid of scholarships, inheritance and help from friends in his home community. He was an outstanding scholar who was awarded numerous scholarships that saw him travel widely. In his quest for education, he was involved in the publication of numerous papers that were based on social changes for the African community. He accepted various teaching jobs in influential institutions, which gave him a platform in his writing. He attended various conferences where he met many other influential writers. One such example was Booker T. Washington, who was very controversial in the beliefs of his counterpart. Born in the South to a white father and black mother, Booker was not always interested in the affairs of the Blacks in his community. He was a figure to reckon with, since as a director of a prestigious college, he called the shots on various issues affecting his people. It was for this reason that he formed an agreement with the whites of the South concerning the rights and privileges of the Blacks in his own hometown. This was an agreement made in Atlanta that allowed limited empowerment of a Black person compared to the Whites. William was strongly opposed to the move together with other African Americans and they held activist demonstrations against the doctrine. However, the murder of Sam Hose led Du Bois to even go a notch higher in acting on the vices against society. These two leaders, Washington and William were complete opposites of each other. Washington was for the idea that Blacks should compromise against the whites, while Du Bois believed in the equal opportunities for all members of community irrespective of race and background. He wrote the ‘Souls of Black Folk’ in his attempt to propagate for the rights of the African Americans. He talks of the social segregation in the community that has degraded the latter as the minority race with a ‘veil’ or line being drawn against them. He asserts that the Blacks should not be rated globally in the same category as the other races unless their problems are resolved, and an equal platform to compete with the rest of the world offered to them. He traces the problem to the civil war when the slaves who escaped to the North had a hard time settling in. The Northerners were at a loss with the numerous Blacks in their region. A law was passed that determined the status of slaves, with those who were in countries belonging to the Union, considered being free. He goes ahead to criticize the views of Booker Washington, especially on his standing towards certain rights of African Americans. He states three key features of Booker’s ideologies on voting, tax payments and equality of the citizens. On another note, William states in his auto biography that he is against all forms of religion. He goes further to explain that all forms of a belief in a supreme being are pointless and unethical. He associates Christianity to the Blacks’ lifestyle of poverty, defeatism and others to their proverbial Christ who had a similar way of life. However, he constantly refers to God or symbols of religion in his works. In his article ‘The Crisis’, Du Bois directly links the life of the Christ to the life of Blacks. This was in terms of their poverty, forced labor, persecution and promise of a better life. He was among the first people in history to talk of a Black Christ and fuel the hopes and dreams of his people to keep fighting for a better tomorrow or as he termed it, the Promised Land. In his ‘Darkwater’ he goes a step further to talk of a Black Christ born in Georgia who was visited by a black bishop, white bishop and a yellow priest to represent the three races. He was trying to elaborate that the Negro has a difficult time in placing themselves among the other races of the world. Du Bois influenced a great number of people in his career as a writer. James Weldon Johnson was one example. He was so intrigued by William’s work that he sought after him in Atlanta University, after which the two became good friends and worked hand in hand even in the NAACP. Johnson even took after the theory of ‘double consciousness’ as was brought out in Du Bois’ works. In fact, James wrote a poem to illustrate the Black independence movement linked to their spirituality. His poem ‘O Black and Unknown Bards’ is about the recognition of the Black Race fostered by their spiritual heads who believed that it was their right to be free in all areas of their life; a topic that was very close to Du Bois. In yet another poem ‘The White Witch’, James brings out the call for the fight for freedom among the African Americans so that they could guard their dignity and roots against the majority race oppressing them. The whites are symbolically represented by the image of the white witch as did Du Bois’ Souls representation. In conclusion, we can assert that William Du Bois was a gifted and determined activist who influenced the fight for freedom amongst the Blacks of his time. He did this by publishing controversial works and delivering speeches in an effort to arouse the spirit of courage and determination amongst his followers. Works Cited Oehl, M. The Development of the Self-Image in Black Autobiographical Writing (frederick Douglass, W.e.b. Du Bois and Malcolm X). Mu?nchen: GRIN Verlag, 2007. DuBois, W. The Autobiography of W. E. B. Dubois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: Internat. Publ, 1969. Print. Blum, Du Bois E. American Prophet. Philadelphia, Pa: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. Print. Andrews, William L. Critical Essays on W.E.B. Du Bois. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall, 1985. Print. Read More