W.E.B. DuBois is one of the most influential leaders for African American rights in U.S. history. His work with the NAACP, and his pride for the African American society led to a successful and legendary fight for African rights all around the world. The Civil War had little effect on already freed African Americans like DuBois. DuBois’s parents and grandparents were never slaves, so they weren’t very affected by the end of the war (McKissack & McKissack, 1990). DuBois was born into a already free American family. Based on their location in Massachusetts, it was safe to say that they were safer from discrimination than in the Southern states (McKissack & McKissack, 1990). Because there was little discrimination …show more content…
When DuBois returned from Europe in 1892, more than 161 African Americans were victims of lynchings, or being hung in mobs. Just between 1882 and 1930, more than 3,300 were hung by mobs. DuBois learned that a man, Sam Hose, was brutally beaten, dismembered, and burned alive by a lynching mob in south Georgia. At the time, Hose was accused of murder even though it was supposedly self defense. The case wasn’t to investigated because of the lynching that took place soon after. When DuBois was on his way to the newspaper office with a statement about the case, he learned about the tragic lynching by hearing that Hose’s knuckles were being displayed in a store on the same street that DuBois was walking.
DuBois wrote about his emotions and the current events taking place in his collection of essays The Souls of Black Folk. The Souls of Black Folk was published and successful in 1903. DuBois’s emotions were shared with other African Americans with similar experiences. Every other black felt the pain that DuBois felt about the lynchings, and his book touch the hearts of every other black that could read at the time. The Souls of Black Folk could have been the start of the real rising against segregation and hate crimes (Randolph,