James Lee Dickey: An Analysis of One African-American's Leadership in Jim Crow Texas

Exploring Communism

In 1934, Du Bois resigned from the NAACP and The Crisis. He returned to Atlanta University as head of the Sociology Department still advocating literary education for the Talented Tenth. For a brief time, he supported the Pan Africa Movement but opposed its leader, Marcus Garvey. Socialism intrigued him so he began a decades long relationship with socialism and communism, even traveling to the Soviet Union where he abhorred the poverty but admired the government’s recognition of the worker. In 1936, he travelled around the world, even visiting Nazi Germany. He saw Japan’s dominance in Asia over Russia as an allegory of Negroes dominating whites in America. During his years at Atlanta University, Du Bois wrote prolifically, publishing one of his greatest works, Black Reconstruction in America. He remained at Atlanta University until 1943 when he returned to the NAACP. His dream project was to create the Encyclopedia of the Negro and in 1961, the country of Ghana offered to sponsor it. At the age of 92, WEB Du Bois repatriated to the west African nation to write his master work. Sadly, his life closed before he could complete it.

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