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Did W. E. B. Dubois Impact On African Americans

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Williams Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois was born on the 23rd of February 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He attended an integrated school and was the first African American to graduate, which he did as top of his class at the age of 16. He went to college at Fisk University in Tennessee where he studied Philosophy. He later then went to Harvard University, becoming the sixth African American to attend Harvard, and became the first African American to receive a doctorate. Du Bois went on to do research on African Americans in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. This research led to his publication of "The Philadelphia Negro" in 1899. The aim of this book was to bring the social issues which African Americans face to light as well as to dispel myths about African Americans.

In the beginning of Du Bois' life he had hope in America and that the racial problems that they face could be solved peacefully. However Du Bois lost this hope as time went on and he lost his faith in capitalism and moved toward communism. Du Bois then moved to Ghana where he became a citizen and where he passed away, at the age of 95, on the 27th of August 1963. This was one day before Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. …show more content…

Du Bois feels that a question which he, as well as other black americans, face is that which comes from the world of white people being "How does it feel to be a problem?" Du Bois first realised that he was seen as "a problem" when playing a card game at school and the one girl refused to accept his card. He then became aware that he was different and excluded from the "white world" by a veil. After the experience he encountered with the card game at school, he dedicated himself to set out to be better than white people and to excell in the

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