What W. E. B. Du Bois thinks about America
American scholar and civil rights leader (1868 to 1963); the first Black person to receive a PhD from Harvard; edited The Crisis, a publication of the NAACP.
W. E. B. Du Bois did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
4 dated positions, 1903, in their own words. Our reading of what W. E. B. Du Bois has said — not written or endorsed by them.
The line under a date shows how recently it was said: empty within a month, full after three years.
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Their wordsIt is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.
↗The Souls of Black Folk (1903)gutenberg.org 2nd of 7 in this piece
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Our readingBlack Americans need schooling more than ever, both practical training and higher culture
Their wordsThe training of the schools we need to-day more than ever,-the training of deft hands, quick eyes and ears, and above all the broader, deeper, higher culture of gifted minds and pure hearts.
↗The Souls of Black Folk (1903)gutenberg.org 3rd of 7 in this piece
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Our readingBlack Americans need the vote in self-defence, or nothing will save them from a second slavery
Their wordsThe power of the ballot we need in sheer self-defence,-else what shall save us from a second slavery?
↗The Souls of Black Folk (1903)gutenberg.org 4th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsSo far as Mr. Washington preaches Thrift, Patience, and Industrial Training for the masses, we must hold up his hands and strive with him, rejoicing in his honors and glorying in the strength of this Joshua called of God and of man to lead the headless host. But so far as Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, North or South, does not rightly value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambition of our brighter minds,-so far as he, the South, or the Nation, does this,-we must unceasingly and firmly oppose them.
↗The Souls of Black Folk (1903)gutenberg.org 5th of 7 in this piece
The line under a date fills as the words age, a quarter at a time: past a month, six months, a year, and three years. Empty means said within the last month; full, more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
Dashed means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.