The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology

While many people are familiar with W.E.B. Du Bois’s work for civil rights, fewer are aware of his impact on the field of sociology. Northwestern University sociology professor Morris (Origins of the Civil Rights Movement) seeks to remedy that neglect with this fascinating study. He focuses on how Du Bois started one of the country’s first sociology departments at Atlanta University, only to see his contributions to scholarship systematically ignored and erased by scholars, notably Robert E. Park at the University of Chicago, an ally of Du Bois’s intellectual rival, Booker T. Washington. Du Bois contended that “externally imposed social conditions,” not intrinsic inferiority, were the cause of African Americans’ low social status, and that moreover, being part of society, African Americans could not objectively evaluate their own self-worth. Morris’s work bears all the hallmarks of meticulous research, lending credence to its well-presented thesis. This academically oriented text will be intimidating to anyone without a background in Du Bois’s work or in sociology. However, for those readers who do accept the challenge, the rewards will be great and the reading dense but enjoyable. (Aug.)