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

==Return to Atlanta==
Du Bois did not have a good working relationship with [[Walter White (NAACP)|Walter White]], president of the NAACP since 1931.<ref>Horne, pp. 143–144.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=535, 547}}.</ref> That conflict, combined with the financial stresses of the [[Great Depression]], precipitated a power struggle over ''The Crisis''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=544}}.</ref> Du Bois, concerned that his position as editor would be eliminated, resigned his job at ''The Crisis'' and accepted an academic position at Atlanta University in early 1933.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=545}}.</ref> The rift with the NAACP grew larger in 1934 when Du Bois reversed his stance on segregation, stating that "[[separate but equal]]" was an acceptable goal for African Americans.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=569–570}}.</ref> The NAACP leadership was stunned, and asked Du Bois to retract his statement, but he refused, and the dispute led to Du Bois's resignation from the NAACP.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=573}}.</ref>

After arriving at his new professorship in Atlanta, Du Bois wrote a series of articles generally supportive of [[Marxism]]. He was not a strong proponent of [[labor union]]s or the Communist Party, but he felt that Marx's scientific explanation of society and the economy were useful for explaining the situation of African Americans in the United States.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=549}}.</ref> [[Marxism and religion|Marx's atheism]] also struck a chord with Du Bois, who routinely criticized black churches for dulling blacks' sensitivity to racism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=549–550}}. Lewis states that Du Bois sometimes praised African-American ''spirituality'', but not clergy or churches.</ref> In his 1933 writings, Du Bois embraced socialism, but asserted that "[c]olored labor has no common ground with white labor", a controversial position that was rooted in Du Bois's dislike of American labor unions, which had systematically excluded blacks for decades.<ref>King, Richard H. (2004), ''Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals, 1940–1970'', Woodrow Wilson Center Press, pp. 43–44.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=551}}.</ref> Du Bois did not support the Communist Party in the U.S. and did not vote for their candidate in the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 presidential election]], in spite of an African American on their [[Ticket (election)|ticket]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=553}}. The person on the ticket was [[James W. Ford]], running for vice president.</ref>

===''Black Reconstruction in America''===
{{main|Black Reconstruction in America}}
[[File:BlackReconstruction.JPG|thumb|150px|''Black Reconstruction in America'', first edition cover, 1935]]

Back in the world of academia, Du Bois was able to resume his study of Reconstruction, the topic of the 1910 paper that he presented to the [[American Historical Association]].<ref>Lemert, Charles C. (2002), ''Dark thoughts: race and the eclipse of society'', Psychology Press, pp. 227–229.</ref> In 1935, he published his magnum opus, ''Black Reconstruction in America''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=576–583}}.</ref><ref>Aptheker, Herbert (1989), ''The literary legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois'', Kraus International Publications, p. 211 (Du Bois called the work his "magnum opus").</ref> The book presented the thesis, in the words of the historian [[David Levering Lewis]], that "black people, suddenly admitted to citizenship in an environment of feral hostility, displayed admirable volition and intelligence as well as the indolence and ignorance inherent in three centuries of bondage."<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=586}}.</ref>

Du Bois documented how black people were central figures in the [[American Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction era]], and also showed how they made alliances with white politicians. He provided evidence that the coalition governments established public education in the South, and many needed social service programs. The book also demonstrated how [[Emancipation Proclamation|black emancipation]] – the crux of Reconstruction – promoted a radical restructuring of United States society, as well as how and why the country failed to continue support for [[civil rights]] for blacks in the aftermath of Reconstruction.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=583–586}}.</ref>

The book's thesis ran counter to the [[Dunning School|orthodox interpretation of Reconstruction]] maintained by white historians, and the book was virtually ignored by mainstream historians until the 1960s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=585–590 (thorough), pp. 583, 593 (ignored)}}.</ref> Thereafter, however, it ignited a "revisionist" trend in the historiography of Reconstruction, which emphasized black people's search for freedom and the era's radical policy changes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foner |first1=Eric |title=Reconstruction Revisited |journal=Reviews in American History |date=1982 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=82–100 |doi=10.2307/2701820 |jstor=2701820 }}</ref><ref>"During the civil rights era, however, it became apparent that Du Bois's scholarship, despite some limitations, had been ahead of its time." {{cite book|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-1-59884-021-6|last=Campbell|first=James M.|author2=Rebecca J. Fraser|author3=Peter C. Mancall|title=Reconstruction: People and Perspectives|year=2008|page=xx}}</ref> By the 21st century, ''Black Reconstruction'' was widely perceived as "the foundational text of revisionist African American historiography."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bilbija |first1=Marina |title=Democracy's New Song: Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880 and the Melodramatic Imagination |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |date=September 2011 |volume=637 |issue=1 |pages=64–77 |doi=10.1177/0002716211407153 |s2cid=143636000 |quote=W. E. B. Du Bois's (1935/1998) ''Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880'' is commonly regarded as the foundational text of revisionist African American historiography. }}</ref>

In the final chapter of the book, "XIV. The Propaganda of History", Du Bois evokes his efforts at writing an article for the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' on the "history of the American Negro". After the editors had cut all reference to Reconstruction, he insisted that the following note appear in the entry: "White historians have ascribed the faults and failures of Reconstruction to Negro ignorance and corruption. But the Negro insists that it was Negro loyalty and the Negro vote alone that restored the South to the Union; established the new democracy, both for white and black, and instituted the public schools." The editors refused and, so, Du Bois withdrew his article.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Du Bois|first1=W. E. B.|title=Black Reconstruction|url=https://archive.org/details/blackreconstruct00duborich|url-access=registration|date=1935|publisher=Harcourt Brace|page=[https://archive.org/details/blackreconstruct00duborich/page/713 713]}}</ref>

===Projected encyclopedia===
In 1932, Du Bois was selected by several philanthropies, including the [[Phelps Stokes Fund]], the [[Carnegie Corporation of New York]], and the [[General Education Board]], to be the managing editor for a proposed ''Encyclopedia of the Negro'', a work which Du Bois had been contemplating for 30 years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=611, 618}}.</ref> After several years of planning and organizing, the philanthropies canceled the project in 1938 because some board members believed that Du Bois was too biased to produce an objective encyclopedia.<ref>Braley, Mark, "Encyclopedia Projects", in Young, pp. 73–78. Braley summarizes Du Bois's lifelong quest to create an encyclopedia.</ref>

===Trip around the world===
Du Bois took a trip around the world in 1936, which included visits to [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]], and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]].<ref name="Lewis, p. 600">Lewis, p. 600.</ref> While in Germany, Du Bois remarked that he was treated with warmth and respect.<ref name="Lewis, p. 600"/><ref>Zacharasiewicz, Waldemar (2007), ''Images of Germany in American literature'', University of Iowa Press, p. 120.</ref> After his return to the United States, he expressed his ambivalence about the Nazi regime.<ref>Fikes, Robert, "Germany", in Young, pp. 87–89.</ref><ref>Broderick, Francis (1959), ''W. E. B. Du Bois: Negro Leader in a Time of Crisis'', Stanford University Press, p. 192.</ref> He admired how the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] had improved the [[Economy of Nazi Germany|German economy]], but he was horrified by their [[Nuremberg Laws|treatment]] of the [[Jewish people]], which he described as "an attack on civilization, comparable only to such horrors as the [[Spanish Inquisition]] and the [[Atlantic slave trade|African slave trade]]".<ref>Jefferson, Alphine, "Antisemitism", in Young, p. 10.</ref><ref>Du Bois quoted by Lewis, David (1995), ''W. E. B. Du Bois: A Reader'', p. 81.</ref><ref>Original Du Bois source: ''Pittsburgh Courier'', December 19, 1936.</ref>

Following the 1905 Japanese victory in the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Du Bois became impressed by the growing strength of Imperial Japan. He came to view the ascendant Japanese Empire as an antidote to Western imperialism, arguing for over three decades after the war that its rise represented a chance to break the monopoly that white nations had on international affairs.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kearney|first1=Reginald|title=The Pro-Japanese Utterances of W.E.B. Du Bois|journal=Contributions in Black Studies|date=1995|volume=13|issue=7|pages=201–217|url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cibs/vol13/iss1/7|access-date=August 8, 2020}}</ref> A representative of Japan's "Negro Propaganda Operations" traveled to the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, meeting with Du Bois and giving him a positive impression of Imperial Japan's racial policies.

In 1936, the Japanese ambassador arranged a trip to Japan for Du Bois and a small group of [[Academy|academics]], visiting China, Japan, and [[Manchukuo]] (Manchuria).<ref>
{{citation|last=Gallicchio|first=Marc S.|date=2000|title=The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895–1945|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-2559-4|oclc=43334134|page=104|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh3Cn3YQ0UQC&q=hikida+%22du+bois%22+or+dubois&pg=PA104}}</ref>{{sfn|Kearney|1995|p=204}} Du Bois viewed Japanese colonialism in Manchuria as benevolent; he wrote that "colonial enterprise by a colored nation need not imply the caste, exploitation and subjection which it has always implied in the case of white Europe."<ref>W. E. B. Du Bois, ''Newspaper Columns,'' Vol. 1, ed. Herbert Aptheker (White Plains, NY: Kraus-Thomson, 1986), pp. 167–68. (Column from the ''Pittsburg Courier'' in February 1937.) Quoted in Kearney 1995, p. 205.</ref> He also believed that it was natural for Chinese and Japanese to quarrel with each other as "relatives" and that the segregated schools in Manchuria were established because the natives spoke Chinese only.{{sfn|Kearney|1995}} While disturbed by the eventual [[Anti-Comintern Pact|Japanese alliance with Nazi Germany]], Du Bois also argued Japan was only compelled to enter the pact because of the hostility of the United States and United Kingdom, and he viewed American apprehensions over Japanese expansion in Asia as racially motivated both before and after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].{{sfn|Kearney|1995|pp=213–215}} He was similarly disturbed by how Chinese culture might be extinguished under Japanese rule but argued that Western imperialism was a greater existential concern.{{sfn|Kearney|1995}}

===World War II===
[[File:DuskOfDawn.jpg|thumb|120px|''Dusk of Dawn'', first edition cover, 1940]]

Du Bois opposed the US intervention in [[World War II]], particularly in the [[Pacific War]], because he believed that China and Japan were emerging from the clutches of white imperialists. He felt that the European Allies waging war against Japan was an opportunity for whites to reestablish their influence in Asia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=631–632}}.</ref> He was deeply disappointed by the US government's plan for African Americans in the armed forces: Blacks were limited to 5.8% of the force, and there were to be no African-American combat units – virtually the same restrictions as in World War I.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=633}}. The military later changed its policy, and units such as the [[Tuskegee Airmen]] saw combat.</ref> With blacks threatening to shift their support to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s Republican opponent [[Wendell Willkie]] in the [[1940 United States presidential election|1940 election]], Roosevelt appointed a few blacks to leadership posts in the military.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=634}}.</ref>

''[[Dusk of Dawn]]'', Du Bois's second autobiography, was published in 1940.<ref>Horne, p. 144.</ref> The title refers to his hope that African Americans were passing out of the darkness of racism into an era of greater equality.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=637}}.</ref> The work is part autobiography, part history, and part sociological treatise.<ref>Mostern, Kenneth, "Dusk of Dawn", in Young, pp. 65–66.</ref> Du Bois described the book as "the autobiography of a concept of race ... elucidated and magnified and doubtless distorted in the thoughts and deeds which were mine ... Thus for all time my life is significant for all lives of men."<ref>Du Bois quoted by Lewis, p. 637.</ref>

In 1943, at age 75, Du Bois was abruptly fired from his position at Atlanta University by college president [[Rufus Early Clement]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=643–644}}.</ref> Many scholars expressed outrage, prompting Atlanta University to provide Du Bois with a lifelong pension and the title of professor [[emeritus]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=644}}.</ref> [[Arthur B. Spingarn|Arthur Spingarn]] remarked that Du Bois spent his time in Atlanta "battering his life out against ignorance, bigotry, intolerance and slothfulness, projecting ideas nobody but he understands, and raising hopes for change which may be comprehended in a hundred years."<ref>Spingarn, quoted by Lewis, p. 645.</ref>

Turning down job offers from [[Fisk University|Fisk]] and [[Howard University|Howard]], Du Bois re-joined the NAACP as director of the Department of Special Research. Surprising many NAACP leaders, Du Bois jumped into the job with vigor and determination.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=648}}.</ref> During his 10−years hiatus, the NAACP's income had increased fourfold, and its membership had soared to 325,000 members.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=647}}.</ref>