Running Head: Research On W.E.B Du Bois Research On W.E.B Du Bois Part one: Your subject Detailed Historical/Biographical Overview of your subject W.E.B Du Bois was a social scientist, an activist for civil rights, writer, and editor. He was born on 23/02/1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he was raised in an extended family. He made a significant contribution to social work in society. He was enrolled in Fisk University, Berlin University, and Harvard University between 1885 and 1894, where he had the opportunity to meet many sociologists (Katz & Sugrue, 1998). He became Harvard University's first Black American to graduate in the doctor of philosophy in 1895. Black Folk Souls urged blacks to fight racial inequality in their practice and opposed black leaders like Washington's civil rights policies. In the early 20th century, he spoke out for African American rights. At Atlanta Wilberforce University, he taught Greek and Latin, where he focused on teaching and engaging in liberation movements while questioning American discrimination. Discuss the successes and failures associated with your subject. Du Bois' main objective was to speak out against racial discrimination suffered by African Americans from white people. In 1899, the Philadelphia Negro was the first case he studied about the African American community. He explained in this study of “the talented tenth” a term to show that one out of every ten African Americans will be rulers of their group. This also tried to point the employment discrimination and accommodation as the obstacles to prospering black people in the north and on racial justice (Du Bois, 2013). He questioned so much how blacks highly regarded vocational education than their social life, such as higher learning and politics. Washington's assertion was always that the way African Americans would be able to eliminate segregation was by working hard and prosperity, so they should accept it because they never had any other way. Du Bois regarded this as an approach for weakening Black people to make them inferior. He fought for equality in every way. Du Bois co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He also became the editor of its magazine (Broderick, 1958) However, Du Bois supported World War thinking that it could make the Blacks and White team together. He was wrong about this as the African soldiers faced racism even during the war. This failure haunted Do Bois till his death. Make certain that you highlight controversial Issues associated with your subject W.E.B Du Bois was affiliated with some controversial issues. He adhered to communist doctrines throughout his life. Du Bois visited the Soviet Union in 1917, the year that the Bolshevik revolution happened in Russia. It is the same year that the USA entered World War One. He was expelled from the NAACP, which he co-founded, in the 1930s for sympathizing with the Communist Party (Rabaka, 2003). Du Bois accepted th.

1. Running Head: Research On W.E.B Du Bois
Research On W.E.B Du Bois
Part one: Your subject
Detailed Historical/Biographical Overview of your subject
W.E.B Du Bois was a social scientist, an activist for civil
rights, writer, and editor. He was born on 23/02/1868 in Great
Barrington, Massachusetts, where he was raised in an extended
family. He made a significant contribution to social work in
society. He was enrolled in Fisk University, Berlin University,
and Harvard University between 1885 and 1894, where he had
the opportunity to meet many sociologists (Katz & Sugrue,
1998).
He became Harvard University's first Black American to
graduate in the doctor of philosophy in 1895. Black Folk Souls
urged blacks to fight racial inequality in their practice and
opposed black leaders like Washington's civil rights policies. In
the early 20th century, he spoke out for African American
rights. At Atlanta Wilberforce University, he taught Greek and
Latin, where he focused on teaching and engaging in liberation
movements while questioning American discrimination.
Discuss the successes and failures associated with your subject.
Du Bois' main objective was to speak out against racial
discrimination suffered by African Americans from white
people. In 1899, the Philadelphia Negro was the first case he
studied about the African American community. He explained in
this study of “the talented tenth” a term to show that one out of
every ten African Americans will be rulers of their group. This
also tried to point the employment discrimination and
accommodation as the obstacles to prospering black people in

2. the north and on racial justice (Du Bois, 2013). He questioned
so much how blacks highly regarded vocational education than
their social life, such as higher learning and politics.
Washington's assertion was always that the way African
Americans would be able to eliminate segregation was by
working hard and prosperity, so they should accept it because
they never had any other way. Du Bois regarded this as an
approach for weakening Black people to make them inferior. He
fought for equality in every way. Du Bois co-founded the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
He also became the editor of its magazine (Broderick, 1958)
However, Du Bois supported World War thinking that it could
make the Blacks and White team together. He was wrong about
this as the African soldiers faced racism even during the war.
This failure haunted Do Bois till his death.
Make certain that you highlight controversial Issues associated
with your subject
W.E.B Du Bois was affiliated with some controversial issues.
He adhered to communist doctrines throughout his life. Du Bois
visited the Soviet Union in 1917, the year that the Bolshevik
revolution happened in Russia. It is the same year that the USA
entered World War One. He was expelled from the NAACP,
which he co-founded, in the 1930s for sympathizing with the
Communist Party (Rabaka, 2003). Du Bois accepted the Lenin
Peace Prize from the U.S.S.R. He is also said to have eulogized
Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, and mass murderer. In 1959,
he supported the Mao communist regime in China, which killed
millions. Du Bois also sympathized with imperial Japan and
Nazi Germany.
What are the Economic, Political, social, or Cultural issues that
contributed to or “fed” the social issues/ biographical subject’s
philosophy that you have researched
Du Bois's motivation for his work was the racism in the United

3. States. He advocated for equal rights among the African
American people and the Whites. He further said that one out of
every ten blacks was likely to be a leader. He promoted black
culture as the editor of The Crisis, a magazine produced by the
NAACP (Rabaka, 2003). Du Bois was also interested in
communism which led him to become a supporter of progressive
groups.
Make certain that you discuss the lingering social/ educational
issues associated with your subject
Du Bois has contributed greatly to the literature today. Most of
his work is stored at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst
school library. He studied and researched the social problems
that were present at his time. He helped in the Pan Africanism,
which advocated for independence in African countries. He also
advocated for Black Nationalism. He helped to solve the social
problems. He wrote several books that included The
Philadelphia Negro, The Souls of Black Folk, Black
Reconstruction and Dusk of Dawn (Du Bois, 2013). Du Bois
promoted education. He said that education was power.
According to him, education could help people promote all the
necessary values and have healthy relationships among
themselves. He also advocated for example teaching. This is
teaching by examples. He observed that students learn more
from behavior and not what they are taught.
Discuss the 5 most important things we can learn from studying
your subject
From studying W.E.B Du Bois we can learn many lessons. One
of the most important lessons we learn is equality. Du Bois
advocated for equality in the education system. According to
him, African American citizens were supposed to obtain an
education as the Americans were. He is a living example as he
was the first postgraduate black student at Harvard University.
Du Bois advocated the need to eliminate racism. He said that all

4. people are brothers despite their skin color. We can, therefore,
learn to promote harmony and eliminate prejudice in society.
We can also learn to promote a just and fair society. Du Bois
advocated for fairness and justice in the American system. The
blacks were often accused of crimes and they did not receive
justice (Lange, 1983). He stood against injustice until he died.
He emphasized that the system could only hurt those involved
and there was a need to streamline the systems.
We can also learn to be courageous and stand for our course.
Although Du Bois was met by a lot of critics in his activism, he
did not give up. He kept on advocating for a just society for all
people. Another trait we can learn from Du Bois is persistence
and hard work. Du Bois worked hard and persisted on his call
for justice, equality and promotion of education among the
African American community. He did all that he could to
achieve his goals. Today, he is one of the renowned social
activists who ever lived,
Part two: Democracy, Education and You
Describe in your own words your views of “Democracy,”
especially noting what it means to you in real-world principles
and applications.
Democracy is a form of government where the citizens practice
power by electing their representatives. In a democratic setting,
people can enjoy their rights and privileges as addressed by the
laws and regulations governing them. Most of the countries
today practice democracy (Rettig, 2016).
In my opinion, democracy has promoted the rule of law today.
The citizens of a given country are governed by the laws. This
creates a restriction on how people should act and also ensure
that the restrictions are followed. All the people are accountable
to the law. Those who are found to have broken the law are
punished accordingly. However, in some countries, vices such
as corruption make its leaders and the rich to be prosecuted.

5. Democracy promotes respect for human rights. Therefore, all
people can express themselves in an acceptable way. Moreover,
it protects peoples’ rights and freedoms from being misused by
others. If a person disrespects another person’s rights or
freedoms they should be punished according to the law. The
rights and freedoms of the people make their lives convenient
and protected.
Through democracy, people can practice their political
processes. There is no discrimination based on one’s political
affiliation. Those that want to be representatives can ask others
to vote them. All the people can decide independently on the
leaders they want. The most preferred representatives are given
the power to administer.
Democracy promotes the freedom of the press. The press plays
an important role in passing information. There are different
players in the press but all align to one purpose, passing of
information. Through the press, people are enlightened.
What is the specific role of schools in preparing people for
“Democratic forms of life?” Explain your position on these key
issues.
A democratic form of life is a life that embraces the values of
democracy. Schools play a very big role in preparing students to
be democratic. Schools should teach students about democracy.
This creates awareness about what democracy is. In teaching
about democracy, the schools should enforce the values of
democracy. Some of the values advocated by democracy are
equality, freedom, justice, and responsibility. Therefore, the
school curriculum should be developed in a way that promotes
democracy (Rettig, 2016). The syllabus should also include the
history of democracy and how it is practiced in different
countries.
Teachers play the role of educating the students. The teachers
should ensure that they enforce the need for such values to

6. students. They should also set a good example for the students
to learn from them. The values prepare the students for life after
school. Whereas the values of democracy should be well
understood by the students, living in a democratic environment
is the best exercise. Therefore, schools should create and
promote a democratic environment for the students. For
example, in most universities, the students are allowed to
choose their student leaders. The students are also punished for
their mistakes and rewarded for their accomplishments. This
promotes a democratic environment in the school. It also
teaches the students how to be accountable and responsible for
their actions.
What specific skills do students need to develop to contribute to
and benefit from America’s socioeconomic system? (the model
of and for “social justice”)?
Social justice is the concept of fair, just and equal relations
between individuals and society. They are measured through the
distribution of wealth and opportunities in society. The
socioeconomic system is a discipline in social science that
explains the relationship between the economic and social
environments and how they influence one another (Casey,
Morello-Frosch & James, 2017). The socioeconomic system in
America revolves around individual incomes, their level of
education, financial security and perceptions about social class.
In general, it reflects on the quality of life.
To contribute and develop in the socioeconomic system,
students need to develop the necessary skills. Decision making
is one of the skills. This skill involves the ability to respond
effectively to situations. It allows individuals to make their
choices. Another important skill is problem-solving skills.
These are skills that are required to come up with solutions to
problems. This skill is dependent on one's decision-making
skills. Communication skills also play a big part in the
development of students. Knowing the correct way to
communicate and when to communicate is paramount. It helps

7. reduce communication barriers thus passing on knowledge and
information. To take part in the socio-economic system,
students also need to develop planning and goal-setting skills.
These skills equip the student with the necessary tools to plan
accordingly. Planning and setting goals is the first step to
succeeding. Creative thinking and critical thinking skills are
also relevant for students to contribute to and benefit from
America’s socioeconomic environment. These skills will help
the student to deal with challenges that he might face. The skills
will also enable the student to contribute creatively to the
system.
In your opinion, what influence/ impact has your subject
exerted on the capacity of schools to better prepare people for
“Democratic forms of life”? In what way? Be specific in your
response
De Bios advocated for education among the blacks. At the time,
most blacks worked in the informal sectors as laborers. He
stressed on the need for them to acquire education. Education
would lead them to liberation. In my opinion, De Bois had a
very big impact on education for the African American
communities (Rabaka, 2017). He emphasized on the need for
equality and fairness in the education system. Through
promoting education among the blacks, they liberated
themselves. This made them live a democratic life and move out
of slavery for good. From equality in education, all people
learned the aspect of a fair, just and equal life.
What is the most important aspect of this study that you believe
will contribute to your development as a career professional
educator?
The aspect of equality is an important aspect of the study that
will be helpful to me. Equality emphasizes on the need for
giving equal chances and opportunities to all. Equality promotes
a fair and just environment. This will contribute to the

8. development of my career. It will help me to always act in a just
and fair manner. This will help uphold my professional ethics.
References
Broderick, F. L. (1958). German Influence on the Scholarship of
WEB DuBois. The Phylon Quarterly, 19(4), 367-371.
Casey, J. A., Morello-Frosch, & James, P. (2017).
Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, residential segregation,
and spatial variation in noise exposure in the contiguous United
States. Environmental health perspectives, 125(7), 077017.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (2013). WEB DuBois on sociology and the
Black community. University of Chicago Press.
Katz, M. B., & Sugrue, T. J. (Eds.). (1998). WEB Du Bois,
Race, and the City:" The Philadelphia Negro" and It's Legacy.
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Lange, W. J. (1983). WEB Du Bois and the first scientific study
of Afro-America. Phylon (1960-), 44(2), 135-146.
Rabaka, R. (2017). WEB Du Bois. Routledge.
Rabaka, R. (2003). WEB Du Bois's evolving Africana
philosophy of education. Journal of Black Studies, 33(4), 399-
449.
Rettig, P. R. (2016). Reframing Decision Making in Education:
Democratic Empowerment of Teachers and Parents. Rowman &
Littlefield.