The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study

W. E. B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington,In 1884 he graduated as valedictorian from high school. He got his bachelor of arts from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the first african american to earn their P.H.D. DuBois was the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks. W.E.B dubois argued that social change could be accomplished by developing the small group of college-educated blacks he called "the Talented Tenth:" Dubois disagreed with Washington's opinions but also respect for him as one of the first true black intellectuals who tried to help the black race. Dubois focused on a strategy called the gradualist political strategy. the strategy tells that Dubois

In the article Black Philly After The Philadelphia Negro, Marcus Anthony Hunter examines public housing and policy reforms in the Black Seventh Ward during the 1920s-1940s. The Seventh Ward experienced urban decay, followed by gentrification leaving its residents living in slums, abandoned, and further mistreated. Presently in Rio the same process is occurring in the village Rio De Janeiero. Although community members are actively protesting against the construction of the Olympic Stadium, residents are being evicted, leaving them homeless.

In the empirical article, “Black Philly after the Philadelphia Negro,” Marcus Anthony Hunter examines the once populated Seventh Ward and the effects that political neglect and racial barriers had on this primarily black area, which ultimately led to its urban decay. Similarly, in recent years, we see this occurring in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. However, we notice how the neglect towards Vesterbro stems from other factors such as immigration, crime, and a poor economy. Hunter examined the archives of the Seventh Ward, specifically after W.E.B. Du Bois’ initial study of the Seventh Ward. From the 1920s through the 1940s, Hunter found that the poor living conditions did not improve. Instead, they were constant, suggesting that Republican politicians neglected this black area. “This period also offers a historical window into the shifting allegiances of black Americans, and their retreat from the Republican Party and embrace of the Democratic Party” (Hunter). Hunter claimed that the shift in

DuBois plunged eagerly into his research. He was certain that the race problem was one of ignorance. And he was determined to unearth as much knowledge as he could, thereby providing the "cure" for color prejudice. His relentless studies led into historical investigation, statistical and anthropological measurement, and sociological interpretation. The outcome of this exhaustive endeavor was published as The Philadelphia Negro. "It revealed the Negro group as a symptom, not a cause; as a striving, palpitating group, and not an inert, sick body of crime; as a long historic development and not a transient occurrence." This was the

Du Bois relates his experiences as a schoolteacher in rural Tennessee, and then he turns his attention to a critique of American materialism in the rising city of Atlanta where the single-minded attention to gaining wealth threatens to replace all other considerations. In terms of education, African Americans should not be taught merely to earn money. Rather, Du Bois argues there should be a balance between the "standards of lower training" and the "standards of human culture and lofty ideals of life." In effect, the African American college should train the "Talented Tenth" who can in turn contribute to lower education and also act as liaisons in improving race relations.

In sociology there are many methods that widely vary in style that are used in order to gather the data necessary to answer research questions. These methods include case studies that deal with and investigate a small group of people over a longer period of time, to using secondary analysis that uses historical and public data to facilitate in a research question, and many other styles in between. The methods that are used each have their own sets of pros and cons, and it is decided by the researcher which will function best when applied to their research. In this essay I will analyze the methods used in The Philadelphia Negro and The Diversity Bargain. Though both of the studies required the researchers to question and interact with the people

The late 18th century and the early 19th century were characterized by widespread slave trade and slavery. This was as a result of the sense of entitlement from the whites in America that they were superior to their black counterparts. Africans and other people of color were shipped into America to provide free labor to white farms that engaged in large-scale farming. Industrialization during this period ensured that the demand for labor was high. Moreover, the promise of cheap or free labor was appealing to the whites who saw this as an opportunity to maximize their gains. Although the whites succeeded to enslave people to work for them, such people would stage demonstrations aimed at securing their freedom. To them,

W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23rd, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was born into a freed family which owned land. He attended an integrated public school. He eventually attended Fisk University, with money which was contributed to him by his fellow church members. While at Fisk, Du Bois was subjected to the harsh racism of the South. After graduating from Fisk University, he continued his education at Harvard College and then Berlin University – before returning to Harvard for his Ph.D. He eventually went on to become a professor at the Atlanta University. Du Bois was a strong racial activist, and fought for the equal rights of blacks – but he also fought for the

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, born in 1868, was a scholar, activist, and philosopher, born into the era of Reconstruction and lynching. Though he accomplished much in his life, Du Bois is largely known for helping found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and writing one of the most prominent works in American critical race theory, The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois made it his life’s work to contest racism through self-assertion, humanize black people across the globe, and find a way to integrate black society and white American society. Much of his rhetoric focused on “double consciousness” and “the veil,” separate but closely related concepts that Du Bois used to describe the experience of Americans, both black and white. While Du Bois passed away a mere day before the March on Washington in 1963, his rhetoric remains vital to anti-racist philosophy; for today, Americans live in an age of colorblind racism. It is a commonly held amongst white Americans belief that all Americans are treated equally and fairly, often citing the civil rights movements of the 1960’s in which the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 came to be. However, as of 2016, 42% of black Americans are dissatisfied in regards to how they are treated, while a mere 15% of white Americans are dissatisfied with the treatment of black Americans.1 Much of Du Bois’ rhetoric focused on education; more specifically, how to use the role of institutions,

The same year the dissertation was published, Du Bois began to teach Latin, Greek, German, and English at Wilberforce University in Ohio. After teaching for several years, Du Bois conducted an exhaustive study of the social and economic conditions of urban blacks in Philadelphia in 1896 and 1897. The results were published in the Philadelphia Negro (1899). This was the first sociological text on a black community published in the United States.

Du Bois contributed to Sociological Theory in several other works published, specifically The Philadelphia Negro. This work was one of the earliest sociological studies to analyze urban life and African Americans. He analyzed various issues in living conditions, education, work life, etc. of the black population living in Philadelphia, something never done before (Du Bois & Eaton, 1976). The goal of his work was to get to the root of the mass amount of difficulties that plagued African Americans in urban areas and pose solutions to improve their standing. From the study, he coined the term the Talented Tenth. The Talented Tenth was described as a need for the most educated and successful of African Americans to gain as much knowledge

In 1899, Du Bois published The Philadelphia Negro, a pioneering work of sociology. Du Bois interviewed as many as 5,000 people and sought to prove there were class distinctions within black society. He urged whites not to focus on intermarriage, but to concentrate on cooperating with the black aristocracy to provide

Du Bois was born February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, a town that mostly white people resided. It was a small community where he encountered little overt racism and developed a passion for knowledge (Hines 345). After high school, Du Bois attended Fisk University in Nashville where he graduated at the age of 20 and moved on to Harvard University. In 1895, he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. Du Bois was well educated, did many research and wrote many books to enlighten the black community. Elliott Rudwick states that, “Du Bois had originally believe that social science could provide the knowledge to solve the race problem, he gradually came to the conclusion that in a climate of virulent racism, expressed in such evils as lynching, peonage, disfranchisement, Jim Crow segregation laws, and race riots, social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest” (Rudwick para. 3). W.E.B Du Bois knew that in order to stop whites from ridiculing blacks was for blacks to become educated. Whites were upset at the very idea that blacks should attend schools because then will there be a social change. Du Bois wanted blacks to stand up for their political and civil rights and education was the jump starter for that. “In this view, he clashed with the

W.E.B. Du Bois is considered one of the top five people of the twentieth century. He is an intellectual, who is admired by both his supporters and adversaries. Du Bois, in his essay, tells his audience that he is not only a genius among blacks, but he is also a revered scholar of humankind. He is well educated among prestigious universities such as Fisk, Harvard, and Heidelberg, and is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. Mr. Du Bois is not a meager intellectual, whose intelligence is measured by the capacity of his knowledge, but he also uses his knowledge to fight for the equality of his people. Among the different identities of Du Bois, he is also the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a reader, one interprets that Du Bois' essay is an authentic narration of the life of African Americans. Du Bois uses context from his point of view as a free man; therefore, his words are less biased than his counterparts. He allows the readers to freely establish their own perspective on the problem of the color people by giving them the chance to see the lives of African Americans before the Civil War through Reconstruction. Du Bois also uses historical references, case studies, and personal storytelling examples to define the problem of the people of African heritage in the United States. The first chapters of The Souls of Black Folk contain historically relevant material,

When people think of racial equality in America the first names that pop into their heads are often Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, or maybe Frederick Douglass. All of these are great choices, but, an often forgotten name that is not brought up in these discussions is W.E.B. Du Bois. An author, speaker, teacher, protester, sociologist, historian, certainly a renaissance man in the truest sense of the phrase. As an author, many of his writings have been very influential, from the time they were released and still to this day. As a speaker, Du Bois was often outspoken and made it a point to be clear where he stood on an issue. Du Bois the teacher was a very intelligent man who was growing into his views, and this time in his life would