On the other hand, William Edward Burghardt “W.E.B.” Du Bois was born into elitism in Massachusetts and grew up as an intellectual. Respected by his neighbors, they raised money to send him to college. However, they were only able to raise enough money to send him to Frisk University, a prevalent black school in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite their generosity, Du Bois felt jilted by this gesture as he believed Harvard was his true intellectual calling and he should have gone there. Being in the South, Frisk was Du Bois’ first experience with racism as southern Democrats had already taken back control of state legislatures. (see Civil Rights…And Wrongs) When he finally made it to Harvard and then the University of Berlin, his ideology soon solidified. While in Germany, he traveled throughout Europe, drinking in the elitist atmosphere Americans sacrificed thousands of lives to break away from. For him, capitalism became the problem and socialism was the answer.
Willing to compromise on segregation temporarily to make other gains in education, society and the judicial system, Booker T. agreed to the Atlanta Compromise in 1895. He continued to proclaim self-reliance, hard work, entrepreneurship and capitalism as security for their freedom, founding the National Negro Business League in 1900. Yet Du Bois was convinced the masses were not capable of conducting their own lives. Dubbing them the “Talented Tenth”, he believed the top enlightened 10%, of which he placed himself, should make the country’s decision. He soon found a home in the progressive movement, becoming an activist and often inciting anger, hostility and violence to further his agenda.
As progressives never let a crisis go to waste, Du Bois seized a tragic event to break a large portion of the black community away from Booker T.’s leadership. On the night of August 13, 1906, in Brownsville, Texas, shots rang out, leaving one white man wounded and another dead. The city’s mayor, along with others, claimed black soldiers from nearby Fort Brown were seen in the streets shooting their guns in the air. While their white commanders insisted all men were accounted for in the barracks at the time of the shooting, investigators believed their accusers. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt dishonorably discharged all 167 soldiers, some with 20 years in the military, stripping them of their pensions as they maintained their innocence in the incident.
Roosevelt’s response to this event, as egregious as is was, allowed Du Bois to dismiss decades of work and progress by Republicans Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Hiram Rhodes Revels, Robert Smalls, John Willis Menard, Joseph Hayne Rainey, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Geroge Washington Carver, and others blacks. (see Reading, Writing, And Redemption, The Forgotten Senator, From House Slave To House Of Representatives, Riots And Rights, The Forgotten Representative, America’s Moses, The Great Escape, and The Peanut Man) Booker T. pleaded in vain with Roosevelt to reverse his decision while Du Bois used it as a springboard for his own ambitions. Despite passing the first Civil Rights laws during Reconstruction without any Democrat help and supporting equal rights for both blacks and women, Du Bois demonized Republicans and Washington in the eyes of the black community. (see The Right’s Fight For Rights)
Other progressives embraced the opportunity as well. Several of Du Bois’ close socialist allies decided in 1909 to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, to fight the racism and aggression growing in the country. While Du Bois was often used as the face of the organization, it was formed and controlled by mostly whites.
As the 1912 election approached, Du Bois naturally embraced the candidate who mirrored his progressive ideas. Being the President of Princeton University, Du Bois saw Democrat Woodrow Wilson as his intellectual and ideological equal, and Wilson told Du Bois everything he wanted to hear. However, while Wilson completely agreed with the “Talented Tenth” idea, he refrained from telling Du Bois blacks were not included in it. Instead, the first Southern Democrat who would be elected since Reconstruction secretly planned to forever place them in the back of the bus.
Du Bois convinced the black community to overwhelming vote for Wilson. Once in office, Wilson segregated the Armed Forces and brought Jim Crow Laws to a national level. In 1915, Wilson debuted The Birth of a Nation in the White House, reviving the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and escalating the lynchings and aggression Du Bois thought progressivism would cure. (see The Birth of a Nation) At the same time, fellow progressive Margaret Sanger started her campaign of eliminating “human weeds,” which was her name for the inferior black race. (see Sanger And Eugenics And Socialism, Oh, My) To his dismay, while addressing his grievances with Wilson at the White House, Du Bois and his companion were systematically thrown out.
Washington believed in the individual while Du Bois believed in his own intellectual superiority. The Democratic Party was the party that gave us Jim Crow, segregation, and poll taxes in the South. However, the elite, highly educated Du Bois was so blinded by his radicalism, he eagerly drove the black race straight into the arms of their oppressors.
Following Washington’s death on November 14, 1915, the black community looked for a new leader, with Du Bois placing himself in that position. To cement the appointment, he blamed Wilson’s policies on Washington and his capitalistic views after it was he, Du Bois, who abandoned Lincoln’s Republican Party for the progressive socialist racist president. As the new Civil Rights leader, Du Bois focused his efforts on the group he co-founded.
The NAACP obtained several victories for Civil Rights, including overturning a constitutional amendment designed to oppress the black vote passed in Oklahoma in 1910. Referred to as the “grandfather clause”, citizens whose grandfather was eligible to vote in 1866 were registered without having to take a reading test. Very few blacks had that right in 1866, allowing illiterate whites a vote over their black counterparts. The NAACP challenged the law in 1915, winning a victory as the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional in Guinn vs United States.
The organization's work continued in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's and 60's, eliminating school segregation with Brown vs Board of Education. (see Separate But Equal?) Like Washington, King was willing to compromise when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. At first, King and the NAACP did not fight for a seat in the front of the bus. Instead, they started with just not having to relinquish their seats in the “black” area to whites. (see Walking To Freedom) However, activists quickly realized it was now or never regarding their rights.
Head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), Thurgood Marshall, won victories for voting rights and against discrimination in housing policies in front of the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) before becoming the first African-American on the SCOTUS.
During the 1930’s, Du Bois fell out of favor with the NAACP as he reversed his opposition to the “separate but equal” policy, breaking ties with his organization in 1934. Intrigued by Marxism, he traveled to such countries as Russia, Japan and China, openly embracing their ideology. While visiting Nazi Germany in 1936, the same year Jesse Owens was snubbed by Hitler at the Olympics, Du Bois somehow missed the Aryan superiority agenda of the National Socialist Party, commenting he was impressed by his treatment there. (see Spirit Of The Olympics) He returned to the NAACP in 1944, but eventually they could not accept his communism, breaking ties again. Du Bois died in Ghana, Africa, on August 27, 1963, one day before King’s “I have a dream speech.”
The NAACP continued on following the Civil Rights Movement, yet many contend they have lost their way. In their beginning, the NAACP supported Republicans and Democrats alike, depending on the individual’s willingness and efforts to help their cause. However, as the KKK’s power increased, threats and harassment pushed blacks firmly into the Democrat voting booth, as was explained in Civil Rights…And Wrongs. By the 1960’s, as the KKK dissolved, the NAACP overtook the job of ensuring blacks remained on the government plantation managed by progressive Democrats. Its mission in the 21st century is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.” However, this applies unless you are a conservative. Then you are discriminated against by the NAACP. This is nothing different than the KKK twisting the arms of voters as they enter the voting booth.
As conservatives mobilized under the Tea Party umbrella in 2010, the NAACP automatically played the only card they know how: the race card. (see Tyrants And Tea Parties) Despite such noteworthy figures as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Deneen Borelli, Tim Scott, Mia Love, Rep. J.C. Watts, Justice Clarence Thomas, Allen Keyes, and Lt. Col. Allen West supporting the movement, the NAACP tried to marginalize their efforts. Critics blanketed their motivation as racism against Democrat President Barack Obama, including the black Tea Partiers, instead of listening to their grievances against his progressive policies. Being the NAACP was treated the exact same way by the Wilson Administration, you would think they would know better.
During both Bush Administrations, Condoleezza Rice broke down several walls for black females, especially in high ranking government jobs, including becoming the first black female National Security Advisor as well as Secretary of State. However, because she did so as a Republican, the NAACP sat by as liberal political pundits ripped her apart. Overly racist political cartoons were given a pass as their progressive agenda once again trumped their name.
In 2014, Tim Scott and Mia Love won historical victories as the first Republican black southern Senator since Reconstruction and first Republican black female Congresswoman. (see The Forgotten Senator, Rights And Riots, The Forgotten Representative, and From House Slave To House Of Representatives) The NAACP was virtually silent on these amazing achievements because they are Tea Partiers. In fact, Deneen Borelli contends the NAACP denies booth space for Conservative organizations at their annual National Convention.
Any African-American who dares to break free of the government chains of socialism are excoriated by Democrats and the NAACP. However, that may be changing. Recently, activist Candace Owens began promoting free thought for blacks. Fellow Republican President Donald Trump supporter, rapper Kanye West, tweeted support for Owens only to have Rep. Maxine Waters state “But we also think that sometimes West talks out of turn and perhaps he needs some assistance in helping him to formulate some of his thoughts…And I think maybe he should think twice about politics – and maybe not have so much to say.” In other words, he needs to sit down in the back of the bus to be quiet because he doesn't think correctly. Progressives label anyone espousing conservative views alt-right, as they did Owens, which is a purposeful misrepresentation. (see Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil?) Meanwhile they secretly, but eagerly, meet with radical Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan behind close doors.
Liberty, it seems that after the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960’s, the NAACP had achieved their ultimate goal. Yet, even following the presidency of the first black president, they are still trying to punish America for slavery. While the country has made amazing progress, there will always be examples of racism. That is true in every country. However, several NAACP members have been exposed recently for making false claims of racism against the police and white people. Not only is this desensitizing the population to the charge of racism, it also diminishes the honest cases of it, robbing the victims of true justice. If that happens, then just like Du Bois supporting Wilson, they will have erased all the progress made by those before them, such as Washington and King, setting the Civil Rights movement back once again.
That’s my 2 cents.
Love,
Mom
June 12, 2018
Dear Liberty,
As America approached the turn of the 20th century in the post-Reconstruction era, race relations were deteriorating. Lynchings were becoming a common occurrence, especially in the South, as Democrats started rolling back Civil Rights legislation passed by Republicans during Reconstruction. (see Civil Rights…And Wrongs) Two leaders emerged that can only be described as the precursors of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the radical Malcolm X. (see Free At Last?) Following the death of Frederick Douglass, the black community looked for a new leader. (see Reading, Writing, And Redemption) While the title fell to a man as honorable and humble as Douglass, another leader rose up ready to use aggression and violence to push through his agenda.
Born a slave, Booker T. Washington received freedom with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which was solidified by the 13th Amendment. (see America’s Voting Record and Freedom Day) He worked hard for everything he had knowing all too well former slaves were at a disadvantage as southern laws were designed specifically to keep them dependent, starting with preventing their education. Therefore, Washington empathized not only education and entrepreneurship, but also pushing yourself to be the best at whatever you did. While working, Washington paid his own way through what is now Hampton University and then today’s Virginia Union University. Seeing his determination and potential, Hampton president, Samuel C. Armstrong, suggested Washington preside over the new normal school, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institution, opening on July 4, 1881. With their own hands, Washington and his students literally built Tuskegee from the ground up. As president, Washington created one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, of which produced World War II’s heroic Tuskegee Airmen, led by Benjamin Davis Jr. (see Like Father, Like Son and Proof Positive)
A TALE OF TWO LEADERS
