Du Bois

Question 1

W.E.B. Du Bois

Answer 1

Pioneering African-American sociologist, historian, and activist. Du Bois combined empirical research, autobiography, and literature to explore race, inequality, and Black life in America. First Black person to earn a Harvard PhD.

Question 2

The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

Answer 2

A genre-defying work blending sociology, memoir, fiction, history, music, and political theory. Du Bois uses it to analyze the legacy of slavery, the failures of Reconstruction, and the struggle for Black dignity.

Question 3

Color Line

Answer 3

Du Bois’ central concept: the racial divide between Black and white Americans, upheld through law, culture, and violence. He famously writes, “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.”

Question 4

The Veil

Answer 4

A metaphor for the social and psychological separation between Black and white Americans. Black people live “behind the Veil,” cut off from equal opportunity and viewed through a distorted lens of racism.

Question 5

Double Consciousness

Answer 5

Du Bois’s term for the internal conflict Black Americans face in a racist society. They must view themselves through both their own self-perception and the dehumanizing gaze of white supremacy.

Question 6

Empirical Sociology

Answer 6

Du Bois was one of the first U.S. sociologists to use data and case studies to study race. His empirical work, such as The Philadelphia Negro, laid the groundwork for modern social science.

Question 7

Value-Neutrality (Critique)

Answer 7

Du Bois critiques the idea that social science is or should be “value-free.” He insists that moral commitment—particularly to racial justice—is essential to studying society truthfully.

Question 8

Narrative Sociology

Answer 8

Du Bois innovatively combines data with personal narrative, fiction, and cultural analysis to depict the full human reality of Black life. This hybrid method challenges positivist norms.

Question 9

Historical Sociology

Answer 9

Du Bois explores how the legacy of slavery and the failures of Reconstruction shaped contemporary Black life. He links social structures to historical causes rather than naturalizing racial inequality.

Question 10

Spirituals

Answer 10

Oral folk songs descended from slavery, presented by Du Bois as a profound cultural expression of African-American spirituality, struggle, and hope. He treats them as legitimate sources of knowledge.

Question 11

Freedmen’s Bureau

Answer 11

A post-Civil War U.S. agency meant to help formerly enslaved people. Du Bois analyzes its mixed success, treating it as an early example of state intervention in social welfare and racial justice.

Question 12

Booker T. Washington

Answer 12

Most prominent Black leader of the late 19th century. Advocated vocational education and racial conciliation. Du Bois criticizes Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” as too submissive to white supremacy.

Question 13

Atlanta Compromise

Answer 13

Washington’s 1895 speech promoting Black vocational education and political accommodation. Du Bois sees it as a betrayal of civil rights and a concession to white control.

Question 14

Talented Tenth

Answer 14

Du Bois’s idea that a small, educated elite of Black Americans should lead the race toward equality and justice. Education and leadership are crucial to social transformation.

Question 15

John Jones

Answer 15

Fictional protagonist of Chapter 13. An idealistic young Black man whose education reveals to him the full weight of racism. His tragic end exemplifies the psychological burden of racial consciousness.

Question 16

Alexander Crummell

Answer 16

Real Black intellectual and priest, profiled in Chapter 12. Crummell’s life exemplifies quiet perseverance, dignity, and resistance. Du Bois contrasts him favorably with Booker T. Washington.

Question 17

Burghardt Du Bois

Answer 17

W.E.B. Du Bois’s infant son, who died young. In his passing, Du Bois reflects on the tragedy and mercy of dying before experiencing the pain of the Veil. A deeply symbolic chapter.

Question 18

The Black Belt

Answer 18

A region in the rural South with a high Black population. Du Bois documents the enduring poverty and exploitation there—despite formal emancipation, many Black people remained functionally enslaved.

Question 19

Jim Crow

Answer 19

Segregation laws that enforced racial inequality after Reconstruction. Du Bois critiques their normalization and shows their psychological and material impact on Black life.

Question 20

Education (Du Bois’s View)

Answer 20

A key route to freedom and empowerment. Du Bois champions classical, liberal education over vocational training, believing it cultivates moral character and leadership.

Question 21

Industrial Education

Answer 21

Training in practical trades promoted by Booker T. Washington. Du Bois acknowledges its utility for some but insists that it should not replace academic and humanistic learning.

Question 22

Race and Class

Answer 22

Du Bois distinguishes between different Black social classes, arguing that racism affects them all but in different ways. He highlights intra-racial complexity rather than treating Black people as a monolith.

Question 23

Pan-Africanism

Answer 23

An early advocate, Du Bois believed in the global unity of African-descended peoples against white imperialism. He saw the Black struggle in the U.S. as linked to anti-colonial struggles worldwide.

Question 24

Psychological Racism

Answer 24

Beyond economic oppression, Du Bois highlights the internal effects of racism: alienation, self-doubt, and disconnection from history and self—an innovation in sociological method.

Question 25

Spirituals as Social Science

Answer 25

Du Bois treats spirituals not as folk curiosities but as documents of Black historical memory and feeling. He includes them at the start of each chapter as both evidence and counter-narrative.

Question 26

Mourning and Memory

Answer 26

Du Bois uses grief—personal and collective—as a sociological lens. His chapter on Burghardt connects death, the afterlife, and racial suffering in a way that blends ethics and epistemology.

Question 27

Hate, Despair, Doubt

Answer 27

Temptations faced by Black intellectuals and leaders, symbolized in the story of Crummell. Du Bois presents perseverance against them as a model of moral strength and leadership.

Question 28

Lynch Law

Answer 28

Extra-judicial violence against Black people, often with community participation. Du Bois links lynching to slavery’s legacy and critiques U.S. law for failing to protect Black citizens.

Question 29

Sorrow Songs

Answer 29

A term Du Bois uses for spirituals. He argues they preserve the voices of enslaved people who were excluded from the written historical record. They represent an emotional archive of Black America.

Question 30

Literary Form

Answer 30

Du Bois uses multiple genres—memoir, fiction, song, sociology—arguing that no single form can capture the fullness of Black experience. His method anticipates modern interdisciplinarity.

Question 31

Science and Ethics

Answer 31

For Du Bois, knowledge is never separate from moral responsibility. Science must be accountable to justice, especially in the study of race and inequality.

Question 32

The Color Line as Global

Answer 32

Du Bois connects racial injustice in the U.S. with European colonialism abroad, arguing that race is not just a national but a global system of domination.

Question 33

Scientific Racism (Critique)

Answer 33

Du Bois challenges pseudoscientific claims about Black inferiority. His sociological method exposes how race science upheld white supremacy under the guise of objectivity.

Question 34

The Problem of the 20th Century

Answer 34

Du Bois’s declaration that the core issue of the modern world is racial inequality. He positions racial justice as the most urgent moral and scientific question of the age.

Question 35

The Study of the Negro Problems (1898)

Answer 35

A methodological essay in which Du Bois argues that Black social life in America must be studied with the same seriousness and rigor as any other scientific subject. He critiques biased, unsystematic, and uncritical prior research.

Question 36

Negro Problems (Plural)

Answer 36

Du Bois emphasizes that there is no singular “Negro problem,” but a plexus of evolving social, economic, and political problems rooted in the legacy of slavery and shaped by ongoing racism.

Question 37

Social Problem (Du Bois’s Definition)

Answer 37

A situation where a group fails to achieve its ideals because it cannot adapt its desired actions to its social conditions. Problems arise not just from actions but from systemic misalignments.

Question 38

Evolutionary Approach to Problems

Answer 38

Du Bois treats racial issues historically. He argues that “Negro problems” have changed form over time and must be understood as dynamic and historically evolving—not static.

Question 39

Scientific Study of Society

Answer 39

Du Bois advocates that sociology should aim at the discovery of truth, combining empirical rigor with moral clarity. He challenges the idea that social science can or should be morally “neutral.”

Question 40

Critique of Value-Free Science

Answer 40

Rejects the notion of a detached, objective observer. Social science must engage with moral questions, especially in the context of racial injustice and inequality.

Question 41

Empirical Method

Answer 41

Du Bois stresses detailed observation, historical research, and statistical measurement. He calls for thorough, systematic, and reproducible research—not speculation or anecdote.

Question 42

Bias in Social Research

Answer 42

Du Bois criticizes how many researchers approach the Negro as an “object of study” with preformed conclusions. He warns against emotional, political, or racial bias in both white and Black researchers.

Question 43

Systematic Research Needed

Answer 43

Calls for coordinated study plans across regions, institutions, and topics. Without systematic inquiry, sociology risks becoming incoherent and driven by myth or ideology.

Question 44

Anthropological Measurement

Answer 44

One method Du Bois recommends. He calls for scientific study of Black physical characteristics to dispel myths of inferiority and to understand the effects of environmental and social conditions.

Question 45

Statistical Investigation

Answer 45

Du Bois urges more accurate, localized, and repeated data collection to track trends over time—particularly on housing, crime, literacy, and economic well-being.

Question 46

Historical Study

Answer 46

Historical analysis is key to Du Bois’s method. He critiques scholars who ignore slavery, Reconstruction, and evolving racial laws when interpreting present-day Black life.

Question 47

Sociological Interpretation

Answer 47

A fourth pillar of his method. Involves making sense of historical and statistical data by identifying underlying social patterns, symbolic meanings, and collective behaviors.

Question 48

Negro as a Social Group

Answer 48

Calls for the study of African Americans not as individuals or outliers but as a collective social group shaped by common experiences and systemic exclusion.

Question 49

Peculiar Social Environment

Answer 49

Describes the unique external pressures shaping Black life: racism, legal segregation, social prejudice. Must be studied as a force interacting with group life.

Question 50

Negro Prejudice

Answer 50

Not just personal bias but a social system that limits access to resources, education, and dignity. Du Bois calls for its study in terms of both material effects and moral consequences.

Question 51

Social Environment vs. Group Life

Answer 51

For Du Bois, studying Black life requires analysis of both internal developments (culture, institutions) and external constraints (prejudice, law).

Question 52

Critique of Past Research

Answer 52

Much earlier work on Black Americans was, Du Bois argues, “unsystematic,” “uncritical,” and tainted by ideology. He insists on high standards of evidence and clarity.

Question 53

Research as Moral Duty

Answer 53

Du Bois argues that studying race and racism is a scientific imperative and a moral obligation. Ignorance of Black life is not just an academic failure—it is a failure of justice.

Question 54

Program of Future Study

Answer 54

Du Bois proposes a coordinated research agenda across four areas: historical study, statistical analysis, anthropological measurement, and sociological interpretation.

Question 55

Universities as Research Centers

Answer 55

Du Bois believes universities, particularly Black colleges, must become centers of social science research, not just teaching institutions. He advocates for regional and collaborative studies.

Question 56

Census Limitations

Answer 56

Du Bois critiques the U.S. Census for its crude measurements and inconsistent categories. He calls for better data and finer distinctions in understanding social life.

Question 57

Atlanta University Studies

Answer 57

An example of Du Bois’s applied method. He organized local empirical studies on Black family life, economics, and education in Southern cities, anticipating later fieldwork models.

Question 58

Government and Science

Answer 58

He argues that government agencies should gather basic data (e.g., census), but deeper analysis should be carried out by trained scholars, especially at universities.

Question 59

Truth-Seeking and Reform

Answer 59

Du Bois insists that science’s primary aim is truth, not immediate reform—but that truth itself will ultimately empower just reform. Reform without truth is misguided.

Question 60

The Only Coward is the One Who Dare Not Know

Answer 60

Closing line of the essay. Du Bois equates the failure to study the Negro problem rigorously with moral cowardice, elevating scientific inquiry to an ethical imperative.

Question 61

The Souls of White Folk

Answer 61

Du Bois’s 1920 essay analyzing whiteness, colonialism, and modernity. He critiques how white supremacy defines itself through domination and denial of its own soul.

Question 62

Whiteness as Power

Answer 62

Du Bois defines whiteness not as a biological fact but a political and economic identity built on conquest, colonization, and racial exploitation.

Question 63

White Consciousness

Answer 63

A constructed superiority complex that enables domination. Du Bois writes that white people seek to "own the world," and confuse power with virtue.

Question 64

Imperialism

Answer 64

Europe's global domination in the 19th–20th centuries, which Du Bois links to white racial ideology and capitalist expansion. White nations justified empire through a myth of civilizational superiority.

Question 65

Color Line (Global)

Answer 65

Du Bois extends his earlier concept to a global scale. The color line separates white from nonwhite peoples across empires and economies, structuring all modern relations.

Question 66

Modernity (Du Bois's Critique)

Answer 66

Modernity claims to bring reason, science, and progress—but Du Bois argues it is built on slavery, racism, and hypocrisy. The West’s enlightenment is haunted by colonial violence.

Question 67

Scientific Racism

Answer 67

Critiqued as a tool used to justify imperial domination and white superiority. Du Bois exposes how supposedly “neutral” science is enlisted in racial hierarchy.

Question 68

The Veil

Answer 68

In this essay, the veil not only obscures Black identity from white view—but also obscures whiteness from itself. White people cannot see the violence behind their own ideals.

Question 69

The Religion of Whiteness

Answer 69

Du Bois calls whiteness a “new religion” that worships conquest, wealth, and racial purity. He critiques how it replaces moral conscience with imperial hubris.

Question 70

Hypocrisy of Civilization

Answer 70

Du Bois points out that while Europe claims to stand for democracy and enlightenment, it simultaneously commits atrocities in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Question 71

Christianity (Critique)

Answer 71

Du Bois critiques how white Christians ignore the teachings of Christ while supporting slavery, lynching, and empire. White religion becomes a mask for violence.

Question 72

War and Race

Answer 72

Writing after World War I, Du Bois argues that modern war is no longer noble but driven by economic greed and racial domination. Race is central to international conflict.

Question 73

White Innocence

Answer 73

He critiques the myth of white moral purity—insisting that white people deny or ignore the suffering they cause through colonialism and capitalism.

Question 74

Capitalism and Race

Answer 74

Du Bois argues that global capitalism and white supremacy are entwined. The wealth of Europe and America was built on the exploitation of colonized labor.

Question 75

Psychological Wage (Precursor)

Answer 75

Though the phrase appears in *Black Reconstruction*, this essay anticipates the idea: whiteness gives poor whites a false sense of superiority over Blacks, despite shared exploitation.

Question 76

Empathy and Critique

Answer 76

Du Bois writes “I see these souls undressed and from the back and side,” using both critique and empathy. He seeks to understand whiteness, not just condemn it.

Question 77

Cosmopolitan Ethics

Answer 77

Contrasts white nationalism with a vision of shared human dignity. Du Bois envisions a world beyond empire, where democracy and justice extend to all races.

Question 78

Modern Science (Critique)

Answer 78

Seen as complicit in empire. Du Bois challenges the view of science as objective or innocent, showing how it often rationalizes domination.

Question 79

Race and Knowledge

Answer 79

The essay critiques how whiteness structures what counts as knowledge, truth, and objectivity. White self-knowledge becomes the norm; Black consciousness is rendered invisible.

Question 80

Inversion of the Gaze

Answer 80

Unlike *The Souls of Black Folk*, here Du Bois turns the gaze on whiteness. He studies the soul of the dominator, exposing it to the same analysis he once used on the oppressed.

Question 81

Historical Method

Answer 81

Du Bois connects contemporary white supremacy to centuries of conquest. He reads the present through the longue durée of imperial history, unmasking myths of innocence.

Question 82

Contradictions of Enlightenment

Answer 82

He insists that freedom, reason, and science are not neutral values—they have been weaponized to enslave others, revealing the contradictions at the heart of the modern West.

Question 83

Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil

Answer 83

The collection in which this essay appears. A political and literary work that blends poetry, theology, autobiography, and radical political critique.

Question 84

Writing as Revelation

Answer 84

Du Bois doesn’t just argue—he reveals. His writing fuses moral vision with intellectual insight, forcing the reader to confront truths usually hidden by ideology or habit.

Question 85

Atlanta Exposition Address (1895)

Answer 85

Washington’s landmark speech advocating racial uplift through vocational training, economic self-reliance, and racial conciliation, rather than civil rights agitation.

Question 86

Atlanta Compromise

Answer 86

A phrase coined by critics like Du Bois to describe Washington’s strategy of accepting segregation and disenfranchisement in return for economic opportunity and peace.

Question 87

“Cast Down Your Bucket”

Answer 87

Metaphor used by Washington urging both Blacks and whites to build relationships and develop where they are, rather than seeking escape or confrontation.

Question 88

Industrial Education

Answer 88

Washington’s emphasis on vocational and technical skills—trades, farming, domestic labor—as the foundation of Black economic progress and dignity.

Question 89

Vocationalism

Answer 89

The belief that economic self-sufficiency, not classical education, would lead to racial respect. Washington’s alternative to Du Bois’s push for higher learning.

Question 90

Economic Self-Help

Answer 90

Washington encouraged Black Americans to gain wealth, land, and skills as a way to earn respect and independence—avoiding confrontation over civil rights.

Question 91

Accommodationism

Answer 91

Criticized stance of avoiding political conflict with white supremacy; Washington's strategy of accepting inequality in social and political life to advance economically.

Question 92

Racial Uplift Through Labor

Answer 92

Washington believed dignity could be found in manual labor and that mastering trades would elevate the race socially over time.

Question 93

Social Separation

Answer 93

Washington proposed that Blacks and whites could be “separate as the fingers in all things social, but one as the hand in all things essential,” effectively conceding to segregation.

Question 94

Conciliation with the South

Answer 94

Washington encouraged Black Americans to earn Southern white support through patience, loyalty, and economic usefulness rather than protest.

Question 95

Political Disenfranchisement

Answer 95

Though he acknowledged it indirectly, Washington avoided advocating for voting rights, believing political agitation would hinder Black progress in the South.

Question 96

“Manly Loyalty”

Answer 96

Phrase Washington used to reassure white audiences of Black Americans’ past and continued devotion, suggesting a political quietism in exchange for economic partnership.

Question 97

Self-Reliance over Protest

Answer 97

Washington’s core message: Black progress would come not through legal or political action, but through hard work, patience, and cooperation with white Southerners.

Question 98

Moral Argument for Work

Answer 98

Washington claimed that tilling a field with skill was as dignified as writing a poem. He saw moral and cultural value in physical labor.

Question 99

Gradualism

Answer 99

Belief in slow, step-by-step progress through industry and self-discipline. Washington opposed the idea that Black equality could or should come quickly through protest.

Question 100

Critique of Social Equality Agitation

Answer 100

Washington warned against demands for social integration, calling them “extreme folly” and advocating for material gains instead.

Question 101

Partnership, Not Protest

Answer 101

Washington framed Black progress as a joint effort with Southern whites, emphasizing shared economic benefit rather than confrontation or resistance.

Question 102

Loyalty and Service

Answer 102

Rhetorical appeal to white Southerners: Blacks had nursed their families, built their infrastructure, and remained faithful—thus deserving trust and investment.

Question 103

Economic over Political Emphasis

Answer 103

Washington focused almost exclusively on work and industry, sidestepping direct calls for suffrage, legal equality, or federal intervention.

Question 104

Black-White Interdependence

Answer 104

He framed racial harmony as essential for Southern prosperity, arguing that white businesses needed Black labor and Black people needed white capital.

Question 105

No “Artificial Forcing”

Answer 105

Washington believed that political equality and social integration should not be rushed or forced, but earned through merit and years of demonstrated loyalty.