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Du Bois’ Journey From Racist to Anti-Racist
Befriending people different than ourselves can transform us
Born in 1868, W.E. B. Du Bois was one of the most prominent post-slavery civil rights activists in the history of America.
Among his many achievements was his cofounding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which led countless efforts to combat racism in virtually all aspects of life, from antilynching advocacy to desegregating schools.
But what most people don’t know is that earlier in his life, Du Bois suffered from the same disease of xenophobia he claimed to be fighting.
Du Bois was a bigot.
In the late 1800s, Du Bois wrote that he knew of the horrific pogroms against Jews in Russia, but really had no sympathy for them. In case you don’t know what pogroms are, that’s when Russians on many occasions organized massacres of Jews.
In 1903, Du Bois claimed that Russian Jewish immigrants in the American South were to blame for “squeezing blood from debt-cursed [Black] tenants.”
Forget that Du Bois was factually wrong about who was primarily responsible in the South for harming Black renters. It’s classic bigotry to call out someone’s ethnicity or race in connection with harm certain…
