W.E.B. DuBoisThe Fight for Equality and theAmerican CenturyKeith W. Cooper931-0752Recently, I learned the ReverendJesse Jackson fathered a babythrough an extramarital affair,This reminded me of attempts tovilify the character of MikeTyson, Michael Jackson,Cosby, OJ. Simpson, and otherheroes in America. Because |don't believe in double standards,I researched the private lives ofnumerous white American leaders(mostly former congressmen). |will mention a few who havefallen from grace since the main-Stream press downplayed theirsexual peccadilloes.Rep. John Young (Tex.), in 1976,staff secretary after she gave in tohis "sexual advances." Rep. Howe(Utah) was arrested in 1976 oncharges of soliciting two police-women posing as prostitutes. Rep.Richmond (N.Y.) was arrested inWashington in 1973 for Tsolicitingsex from a 16-year-old boy.Republican Rep. Hinson (Miss.),in 1980, admitted committing anobscene act at a gay haunt inVirginia. Rep. Evans (R-Del.),Tom Railsback (R-Ill.) and DanQuayle shared a cottage withPaula Parkinson (a lobbyist) dur-Ing a 1980 Florida vacation.Railsback and Quayle deniedhaving sex with " Parkinson.Conservative Republican Rep.Donald Lukens (Ohio) was ac-cused of having paid to have sexwith a young girl since she was13. Lukens was sentenced to onlyOne month in jail._ Former House " SpeakerLivingston recently resigned afteradmitting having extramarital af-fairs, Shall 1 say more?From Thomas Jefferson, who, bytoday's standards, raped a slave toPresident Cleveland (fathered achild out of wedlock) and JesseJackson, many leaders haveSlipped. Jefferson, however, isremembered for the LouisianaPurchase and the Declaration ofIndependence,Jackson, whose son is now atorchbearer for racial justice,must reconcile with his wife.Linda Ronstadt's quote "My bigfantasy has been to seduce ahe oe vulnerabilityreachers with respect to theforbidden fruit", .4:Bill:increased the salary of a former.One. fundar nental question to anunderstanding .of American his-7 tory is how black Americansdeveloped the psychologicalstamina. and collective socialcapacity to cope with the sophis-ticated system of racial domina-tion that. white Americans hadanchored deeply in law andcustoms. One man whose geniuswas for 70 years at the intellec-tual epicenter of the struggle todestroy white supremacy as pub-lic policy and social fact in theUnited States cannot be ignored:William Edward Burghardt DoBois.W.E.B. Do Bois (1868-1963) was a poor isolated youngNegro, born in westernMassachusetts three years afterthe Civil War. He was educatedat Harvard University and theUniversity of Berlin and wasacknowledged as the leader of~ black American opinion sincethe death of Booker T.Washington in 1915. One of hiswell-known works is oThe Soulsof Black Folk � (1903). He wasa co-founder of the NAACP in1910 and editor for 25 years ofits journal, the CRISIS: ARecord of the Darker Races,whose circulation exceeded100,000 copies per month in1919. Du Bois had a capacity toshape black public opinion en-joyed by no previous Negrointellectual. He was hailed as thetowering intellectual of his race, othe chief advocate for the fullAmericans. Sometime later,-phy �-----that of not waiting forsome. distant future when the -white majority might change itsmind and its behavior, but ratherthat Negroes needed to savethemselyes by economic coop-eration and " _institutional-building. For the NAACP it wasconsidered a frank acceptance ofthe social and legal fact ofsegregation. For the black left,it was petty bourgeois. blacknationalism. For the civil rightsmainstream, it undermined theonly program that had anychance of success---that of liti-gation and lobbying. For thesereasons and the rejection ofother black leaders, the CRISISno longer financially independ-ent because of declining circula-tion, in 1934 Du Bois resignedfrom the NAACP. In 1936 hetoured Germany, Russia, Chinaand Japan and received a trium-phal reception. Soon afterwardhe began engaging in interna-tional affairs and returned to theNAACP in 1944 as director ofspecial research.As to his personal life,Du Bois wrote admiringly andfrequently about beautiful andaccomplished black women. Heis depicted as a combination ofcharming cad and geriatric sexaddict. There was a detailedaccount of Du Bois Ts arrange-ments to keep his wife either inyear-old. teacher, « arid T Nashville oDu Bois and Shirley.netime ite, - they were living in the same cityleftward drift of his thought and. ai Therhis thought and pursuit of young women. Theredeveloped a onew racial philoso- ¢Is one account of how he was egistration Act. He |bourided by the internal se: |of the U.S. government a "labeled an adulterer and that this.another city for yeas at atime or Du Boiseven in a different place when Februar68-year-old scholar chased a 29 inGraham slept together for thefirst time on the second night inJanuary, 1936 �.......The Communist Partyput forth a major effort tocapture Du Bois for their side inthe war of ideas after World WarII. As late as 1944 Du Bois hadwritten that, for a minority grouplike American Negroes, otheprogram of the AmericanCommunist Party was suicidal. �Yet not more than two years laterhe was surrounded increasinglyby party member and fellowtravelers. By 1947 as the ColdWar began to reshape Americanpolitics, a double drift emerged:of an anti-Communist NAACPinto the hands of the Trumanadministration and Du Bois un-mistakably to the far left. Afterhis dismissal from the NAACPin 1948, he found himself infinancial binds. Through PaulRobeson Ts intervention and oth-ers from the oLeft �, he was ableto gain financial assistance. Atthat time he was still not aCommunist but in February1950, became chairman of thePeace Information Center whichhad been denounced as a oSovietpropaganda trick �. The PICdisbanded in October 1950 butheight of the Cold War. Hiindicted for falling to cowas° tried and oacquitte:November 1951.Although acquittedBois became more isolateding the 1950s and was den "passport until the Supreme 'ruled in 1958 that theDepartment Ts passport powere in this regard uncontional. In a final act of defhe joined the Communistof the United States at the a93 and exiled himself to ADespite his attackseconomic and social systenBois wrote that the United was omy country and the lamy fathers--- a land of macent possibilities--the honnoble souls and generousple. � Hopefully those ogenpeople � may come closerlong-deferred understandirone of the 20" century Tsintellectuals-------- WilliamEdward Burghardt Du BoisNote: | contacted aentrepreneur, Mr. William }Nobles, (also a relative) aaffirmed, indeed, that theBois Center was named to |W.E.B. Du Bois.else. We have shaped ourenormous. ~ :movers and shakers among usJordan, Shirley Caesar, Billwe have DavidHammond, MichaelMildred Council,Dixon,BernardRoundtree, Gaston Monk, RoySpell, Rev. Sidney Locks, Rev.Randy Royal, Judge JimWynn, Don Brown, andBernita Demery. These Blacks.have triumphed with blood,sweat and tears.The 2001 theme: "Creatingand defining the AfricanAmerican community: Family,church, politics and culture �.Beatrice Maye| inspired America like no one.national culture profoundly, : @from art to politics, style and | ~~entertainment. Our influence is |African Americans who are.are Cohn Powell, Tiger Woods, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelo, :Denial Washington, Michael |Cosby, Corretta Scoff King, aeand Kweisi Mfume. Locally, |Hazelriz, Jim Rouse, Bennie |ALLTEL Prepaid Wireless. No contract. No depoFor details, call 1-800-ALLTEL-3.sit. No credit check. Think about it.)wth