WEB Dubois Books

WEB Du Bois Books List

Throughout his life, Du Bois wrote a staggering amount of books. Here is an overview of his works:

WEB Du Bois Famous Books

As you can see, Du Bois wrote a huge number of essays and books. Let's dive into 6 of his most famous works.

1. The Conservation of Races (1897)

Du Bois rejected the idea that divisions of race were due to biology. He argued against scientific racism, which held that African Americans' inferiority was reflected in their bodies and the colour of their skin.

However, Du Bois did not reject race categorisation completely. He wanted to conserve black culture and believed the African American community had its own unique history and traditions. Du Bois was heavily influenced by the German philosopher, Hegel, who he would have come across during his studies in Berlin.

Like Hegel, Du Bois argued that African Americans had a unique spirit or 'soul'. Du Bois' argument countered the prevalent white supremacist myth that African Americans had no culture outside of slavery.

2. The Philadelphia Negro (1899)

Du Bois conducted a door-to-door statistical study on the black familial and working structures of the African-American community in Philadelphia. In this study, he concluded that some of the greatest challenges for the African American community were:

• crime
• poverty
• poor access to education

The theme of access to education continued to crop up throughout Du Bois's literature.

However, by 1910 Du Bois had moved away from sociological works like The Philadelphia Negro and turned to politics, literature, and philosophy. What pushed Du Bois away from such sociological works? The historian Evans wrote:

Du Bois moved away from giving concrete evidence of African Americans' poor conditions. He moved towards understanding why racism was so powerful and what could be done to stop it.

3. WEB Du Bois The Souls of Black Folks (1903)

Du Bois' 1903 book was hard-hitting analysis of America's racism. It was Du Bois' answer to the question, 'What kind of politics should African Americans use to counter white supremacy?’

The Souls of Black Folks is known for having coined some of the most sophisticated concepts of racism, such as the colour-line, double consciousness, and the veil.

Here are some quotes from The Souls of Black Folk that touch on these concepts:

Du Bois described the philosophical state of African American being. He argued that this two-ness or double consciousness was destructive and part of racism's power.

The veil acted as a gatekeeper, shutting out African Americans. This theme of an exile in your own home was a common one in Du Bois' work.

But this veil was not completely obscuring. In fact, it allowed African Americans to see clearly what was going on on the other side. The veil granted African Americans unique insights into the world while at the same time preventing them from truly participating in that world.

4. Returning Soldiers (1919)

Du Bois' "Returning Soldiers" was an article published in the newspaper The Crisis. It was published after America's victory in World War One and satirised the journey of African American soldiers returning from war.

Du Bois heavily criticised America for promoting peace and democracy in Europe but failing to enforce it at home. He pointed out the lack of voting rights African Americans faced and the prevalence of lynching. He called on returning soldiers to continue fighting, just as they did in Europe, for democracy and equality.

5. Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil (1920)

Darkwater represented Du Bois' further move away from social sciences. As Du Bois himself wrote:

Du Bois moved towards taking the reader within the veil or the world of African Americans. He wanted to reveal the souls and voices of black Americans, rather than impersonal statistics that rendered African Americans into a 'problem' to be solved. Du Bois did this through personal essays, political commentaries, and responses to poetry.

In one chapter, called 'The Souls of White Folk,' Du Bois argued that the whitewashed history and politics of America tried to:

Du Bois flipped the 'problem' of racism on its head: instead of looking at African Americans' behaviour, he sought to examine white peoples'. Du Bois used moral psychology to understand why white folk believed they were inherently better than black folk.

6. Black Reconstruction (1935)

Reconstruction was the era right after the US Civil War, from 1865 - 1877. It was a period of huge advances in the rights of African Americans. For example, it was when the first black Senator, Hiram Rhodes Revels, was elected in 1870 in Mississippi.

Despite these achievements, Reconstruction gave way to Jim Crow in 1877, when federal troops were pulled out of the South. These federal troops had previously ensured that voting laws were followed and prevented violence against African Americans.

Though brief, the 12 years of Reconstruction were important. But academic and popular consensus by 1900 had agreed that Reconstruction was a failure and that African Americans were not suitable for government or political positions. President Woodrow Wilson's own book, Division and Reunion (1893) held such a view.

Fig 1: Photograph of President Woodrow Wilson, by Harris & Ewing in 1919.

In Black Reconstruction, Du Bois countered the widely accepted narrative that Reconstruction had been a failed experiment in African American rights and leadership. Du Bois noted the achievements of African American politicians during Reconstruction, such as public health and welfare laws. Rather than African Americans, Du Bois placed the blame for the failures of Reconstruction at the Southern previously slave-owning elite, who went to great lengths to continue benefitting from cheap African American labour.

WEB Du Bois Books Summary

Throughout his life, Du Bois was a committed intellectual and writer activist. His books demonstrate not only this commitment but also Du Bois' changing ideas and opinions as his life went on.

His move away from sociology towards literature and journalism reflected his understanding of the power of persuasive writing. He hoped his works would reach a wider audience than the closed academic circles of sociology.

Later in his life, Du Bois wrote extensively about the conditions of Africa. This reflected his turn towards Pan-Africanism, the political movement advocating for African unity against foreign interference. His focus on the history and economics of Africa - its material conditions - was part of his turn towards Communism. At whatever stage of his life, Du Bois' works remain relevant for their analytical and prophetic nature.