Ethnic Studies Review
Orginal Publication Date
2004
Journal Title
Ethnic Studies Review
Volume
27
Issue
esr/vol27/iss1
First Page
23
Last Page
31
Abstract
The 1960s have been described as the "civil rights decade" in American history. Few scholar-activists have been identified as strongly with the legal, social, economic, and political changes culminating in the 1960s as has African American historian, sociologist, psychologist W. E. B. Du Bois. Inexplicably, in 2003, the 100-year anniversary of Du Bois' classic, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), came and went with little fanfare within or outside of academia. However, in 2004, the 50-year anniversary of the initial U. S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) presents an opportunity for ethnic studies in general, and Black studies in particular, to acknowledge the intellectual and political contributions of Du Bois to the civil rights movement in the United States. In the post-Civil Rights Era, some authors have suggested that Du Bois opposed the initial Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruling. In contrast, I observe in the present paper that Du Bois (1957) opposed the U. S. Supreme Court's subsequent (1955) ruling that invoked the much-criticized term "with all deliberate speed," rather than the initial (1954) ruling that rendered the "separate but equal" doctrine unconstitutional. Moreover, I contend that Du Bois' own values and attitudes were fully consistent with his position on the (1954, 1955) decisions.
Rights
Copyright ©ESR, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 2004
Comments
Inclusion/Exclusion