Du Bois Report - Book Report/Review Example

He tenders a polite warning to the white community that maltreated the blacks for centuries for lack of understanding. He argues, “You misjudge us because you do not know us.”(186) Bois articulates a system of man-making education that helps to nourish and build the various facets of skills and personality of an individual; education is the discovery of the latent talents within. He is not a minority man and the views propounded by him are worthy to be emulated by the entire humankind. This paper is restricted to his essay on “Education” appearing in the book, “The Social Theory of W E B Du Bois.

” But race is an ingredient of all his writings on any subject. Instead of being a theoretician, he has made significant analysis of a number of social problems, and ‘Education’ seems to be his favorite subject. He knew that the system of education could build or break a race. In the article “The Talented Tenth,” published in 1903 in “The Negro Problem”, he argues, “The Negro Race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race they may guide the Mass away from contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races.”(185) Here he mentions about the necessity of training the leaders to educate and lead the massed eventually.

While articulating his views as to what should be the nature of education, the writings of Du Bois touch the spiritual heights. He argues, “Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and develops men.”(192) He is thus aware of the spiritual and secular importance of education. While advocating the radical change in the system of education, he leans towards the Marxian economic revolution. This was mainly due to his disenchantment with the role of the Church and the white leaders who practiced hypocrisy in the name or religion, whom he calls the benevolent despots, which made him question the existence of God.

He argues, “Then if he gives peace and tranquility to tyrants and permits them to keep out fathers, our mothers, ourselves and our children in eternal ignorance and wretchedness to support them and their families, would he be to us a God of Justice?”(187) His arguments are right in relation to the time and perspective in which they are made; facing such grim exploitation and humiliation to the dignity, any community will turn cynical and itch for strong measures of protest. He highlighted the Negro perspective of education.

The white race of America indulged in excessive materialism and aggrandizement for wealth. Their philosophy has to be understood in the backgrounder information that they began with the exploitation of the local Indians from the day they landed on the shores of America and began to build the empire. To Du Bois, integration of the black race with the white race is secondary. He believed that the black culture can temper and mold the self-interested pursuit of wealth, which is the hallmark of the white culture.

One of the important tools of economic prosperity is through education. Du Bois is interested in a system of education that produces total human beings not like the spare parts of giant machinery called society. He articulates it thus: “There is a widespread feeling that a school is a machine. You insert a child