Editing W. E. B. Du Bois (section)

===After the war===
[[File:ChicagoRaceRiot 1919 wagon.png|thumb|alt=An African-American family moves out of a house with broken windows|A family evacuating their house after it was vandalized in the [[Chicago race riot of 1919|Chicago race riot]]]]

When the war ended, Du Bois traveled to Europe in 1919 to attend the first [[Pan-African Congress]] and to interview African-American soldiers for a planned book on their experiences in World War I.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=367–368}}. The book, ''The Black Man and the Wounded World'', was never published. Other authors covered the topic, such as Emmett Scott's ''Official History of the American Negro in the World War'' (1920).</ref> He was trailed by U.S. agents who were searching for evidence of treasonous activities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=371, 373}}.</ref> Du Bois discovered that the vast majority of black American soldiers were relegated to menial labor as [[stevedore]]s and laborers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=368}}.</ref> Some units were armed, and one in particular, the [[92nd Infantry Division (United States)|92nd Division]] (the Buffalo soldiers), engaged in combat.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=369}}.</ref> Du Bois discovered widespread racism in the Army, and concluded that the Army command discouraged African Americans from joining the Army, discredited the accomplishments of black soldiers, and promoted bigotry.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=376}}.</ref>

Du Bois returned from Europe more determined than ever to gain equal rights for African Americans. Black soldiers returning from overseas felt a new sense of power and worth, and were representative of an emerging attitude referred to as the [[New Negro]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=381}}.</ref> In the editorial "Returning Soldiers" he wrote: "But, by the God of Heaven, we are cowards and jackasses if, now that the war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land."<ref>Du Bois quoted in Williams, Chad (2010), ''Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era'', UNC Press Books, p. 207.</ref>

[[Great Migration (African American)|Many blacks moved to northern cities in search of work]], and some northern white workers resented the competition. This labor strife was one of the causes of the [[Red Summer]], a series of [[race riots]] across America in 1919, in which over 300 African Americans were killed in over 30 cities.<ref name="Lewis, p. 383">Lewis, p. 383.</ref> Du Bois documented the atrocities in the pages of ''The Crisis'', culminating in the December publication of a gruesome photograph of a [[Omaha race riot of 1919|lynching that occurred during a race riot in Omaha, Nebraska]].<ref name="Lewis, p. 383"/>

The most violent episode during the Red Summer was a [[Elaine massacre|massacre]] in [[Elaine, Arkansas]] in which nearly 200 blacks were murdered.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=389}}.</ref> Reports coming out of the South blamed the blacks, alleging that they were conspiring to take over the government. Infuriated with the distortions, Du Bois published a letter in the ''[[New York World]]'', claiming that the only crime the black [[sharecropper]]s had committed was daring to challenge their white landlords by hiring an attorney to investigate contractual irregularities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=389}}. The sharecroppers were working with the [[Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America]].</ref>

Over 60 of the surviving blacks were arrested and tried for conspiracy, in the case known as ''[[Moore v. Dempsey]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=389–390}}.</ref> Du Bois rallied blacks across America to raise funds for the legal defense, which, six years later, resulted in a Supreme Court ruling authored by [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.]]<ref name="Lewis301"/> Although the victory had little immediate impact on justice for blacks in the South, it marked the first time the federal government used the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] guarantee of [[due process]] to prevent states from shielding mob violence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=391}}.</ref>

[[File:Darkwater.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.65|''[[Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil]]'', first edition cover, 1920]]

In 1920, Du Bois published ''[[Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil]]'', the first of his three autobiographies.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=391}}. The other two were ''[[Dusk of Dawn]]'' and ''The Autobiography of W. E. Burghardt Du Bois''.</ref> The "veil" was that which covered colored people around the world. In the book, he hoped to lift the veil and show white readers what life was like behind the veil, and how it distorted the viewpoints of those looking through it – in both directions.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=394}}.</ref> The book contained Du Bois's feminist essay, "The Damnation of Women", which was a tribute to the dignity and worth of women, particularly black women.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=392}} (characterizes as "feminist").</ref>

Concerned that textbooks used by African-American children ignored black history and culture, Du Bois created a monthly children's magazine, ''The Brownies' Book''. Initially published in 1920, it was aimed at black children, who Du Bois called "the children of the sun".<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=405–406}}.<br />The publication lasted two years, from January 1920 to December 1921.<br />[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2004ser01351page.db Online at Library of Congress] (retrieved November 20, 2011).</ref>