W. E. B. Du Bois on Brown v. Board of Education

摘要

The 1960s have been described as the u22civil rights decadeu22 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 Boisu27 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 Courtu27s subsequent (1955) ruling that invoked the much-criticized term u22with all deliberate speed,u22 rather than the initial (1954) ruling that rendered the u22separate but equalu22 doctrine unconstitutional. Moreover, I contend that Du Boisu27 own values and attitudes were fully consistent with his position on the (1954, 1955) decisions.