WEB+DuBois

WEB DuBois African American Rights Movement

nps.gov

myblackhistory101.com naacpcolumbusga.org

WEB DuBois was born in the year 1868, and died in the year 1963. He was one of the most important leaders of African American protest in the United States. He believed that all people of the African American race have common interests and should all work together to conquer prejudice. His belief was that the best way to defeat prejudice was for college educated blacks to lead the fight against it.

He graduated from Fisk University in 1888. A few years later in 1895 he became the first African American to receive a PHD degree at Harvard University. He also attended the first pan African conference in London in 1900. In 1905 he founded the Niagara Movement. He participated in an organization to fight racial discrimination. It consisted of thirty branches that were located in various cities of the U.S. Some branches of the movement demanded voting rights for African Americans, opposed school segregation, and worked to elect candidates who promised to fight racial prejudice. It placed the responsibility for racial problems in the United States on the whites. It failed to to win the support of most blacks, but many of its ideas were adopted in 1909 by a new interracial organization. Even though his approach may not have worked at the time, it helped in the long run for the future Civil Rights Movement. It helped the African Americans today because they now have equal rights, and are treated the same as white people. There are no laws against them, and they have the same amount of freedom and independence as everyone else.

He also became director of publicity and research for the NAACP. The NAACP was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was founded in 1909. It led the campaign end the Jim Crow segregation. The first goal to accomplish was inequality in education. It helped with the admission of black students because the state did not have any colleges for any of the blacks. In 1938 their approach was declined by the U.S Supreme Court. WEB DuBois was important because he was trying to make an improvement in society. He was willing to fight, and protest so that the African Americans could have equal rights. He wanted to make a difference, and he thought they all had common interests and believes. He wanted all of them to try and conquer prejudice together.

" The main thing is the YOU beneath the clothes and skin- the ability to do, the will to conquer, the determination to understand and know this great, wonderful, curious world. " -WEB DuBois

Citations "Niagara Movement" __World Book Encyclopedia__ 2000 ed. Print. "WEB DuBois" __World Book Encyclopedia__ 2004 ed. Print. "WEB DuBois and the NAACP-The Civil Rights Movement"vahistorical.org, 19 June.2004.Web.23 Sept.2011.