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

===The FBI, McCarthyism, and trial===

[[File:WEB Du Bois PIC hearing reduced Resolution.jpg|thumb|alt=Five persons stand in heavy overcoats in front of an imposing federal building|Du Bois (center) and other defendants from the [[Peace Information Center]] prepare for their trial in 1951.]]

During the 1950s, the U.S. government's anti-communist [[McCarthyism]] campaign targeted Du Bois because of his socialist leanings.<ref>Marable, p. xx.</ref> Socialist historian [[Manning Marable]] characterizes the government's treatment of Du Bois as "ruthless repression" and a "political assassination".<ref>Marable, p xx . ("ruthless repression").<br />Marable, Manning (1991), ''Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 1945–1990'', University Press of Mississippi, p. 104 ("political assassination"). Marable quoted by {{Harvnb|Gabbidon|2007|p=55}}.</ref>

The FBI began to compile a file on Du Bois in 1942,<ref>{{Harvnb|Gabbidon|2007|p=54}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Federal Bureau of Investigation |authorlink=Federal Bureau of Investigation |year=1942 |url=http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/dubois.htm |title=William E. B. DuBois File#: 100–99729 |access-date=April 27, 2006 |archive-date=October 15, 2004 |archive-url=https://www.webharvest.gov/peth04/20041015175429/http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/dubois.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> investigating him for possible subversive activities. The original investigation appears to have ended in 1943 because the FBI was unable to discover sufficient evidence against Du Bois, but the FBI resumed its investigation in 1949, suspecting he was among a group of "Concealed Communists".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Stalking sociologists: J. Edgar Hoover's FBI surveillance of American sociology|last=Keen|first=Mike Forrest|date=2004|publisher=Transaction Publishers|others=Keen, Mike Forrest.|isbn=978-0-7658-0563-8|location=New Brunswick|page=15|oclc=52739297}}</ref> The most aggressive government attack against Du Bois occurred in the early 1950s, as a consequence of his opposition to nuclear weapons. In 1950 he became chair of the newly created [[Peace Information Center]] (PIC), which worked to publicize the [[Stockholm Appeal]] in the United States.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=688}}.</ref> The primary purpose of the appeal was to gather signatures on a petition, asking governments around the world to ban all nuclear weapons.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=689}}.</ref>

In {{cite court|litigants=United States v. Peace Information Center|vol=97|reporter=F. Supp.|opinion=255|court=D.D.C.|date=1951|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/97/255/2247887/|postscript=none}}, the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Justice Department]] alleged that the PIC was acting as an agent of a foreign state, and thus required the PIC to register with the federal government under the [[Foreign Agents Registration Act]].<ref name="Schneider163"/> Du Bois and other PIC leaders refused, and they were indicted for failure to register.<ref>Horne, pp. 168–169.</ref><ref>Lieberman, Robbie (2000), ''The Strangest Dream: Communism, Anticommunism, and the U.S. Peace Movement, 1945–1963'', Syracuse University Press, pp. 92–93.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Gabbidon|2007|p=54}}: The government felt that the PIC was an agent of the USSR, although that country was never specifically identified.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson| first=Robert C. Jr. |year=1998|title=Race, Law and Public Policy: Cases and Materials on Law and Public Policy of Race|pages=472|publisher=[[Black Classic Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRYDK0baMa4C&q=United+States+v.+Peace+Information+Center&pg=PA472|isbn=978-1-58073-019-8|oclc=54617416|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503000736/http://books.google.com/books?id=LRYDK0baMa4C&pg=PA472&dq=United+States+v.+Peace+Information+Center&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Yy95T5DKKafw0gGA7o2PDQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=United%20States%20v.%20Peace%20Information%20Center&f=false|archive-date=May 3, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Michel|first1=Casey|last2=Freeman|first2=Ben|date=September 3, 2020|title=The Danger of Banning Foreign Lobbying: It's a Real Problem, But Biden's Proposal Isn't the Right Fix|volume=99|number=5|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-09-03/danger-banning-foreign-lobbying |url-access=subscription}}</ref> After the indictment, some of Du Bois's associates distanced themselves from him, and the NAACP refused to issue a statement of support; but many labor figures and leftists – including [[Langston Hughes]] – supported Du Bois.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=692 (associates); p. 693 (NAACP); pp. 693–694 (support)}}.</ref>

He was finally tried in 1951 and was represented by civil rights attorney [[Vito Marcantonio]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|p=690}}</ref> The case was dismissed when the defense attorney told the judge that "Dr. [[Albert Einstein]] has offered to appear as character witness for Dr. Du Bois".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jerome|first1=Fred|last2=Taylor|first2=Rodger|date=July 1, 2006|title=Einstein on Race and Racism|journal=Souls|volume=9|issue=4|page=121|doi=10.1080/10999940701703851|s2cid=141762653}}</ref> Du Bois's memoir of the trial is ''In Battle for Peace''. Even though Du Bois was not convicted, the government confiscated Du Bois's passport and withheld it for eight years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2009|pp=696, 707}}. Du Bois refused to sign a non-Communist affidavit that would have enabled him to regain his passport.</ref>