W.E.B. Du Bois: Bridging the Gaps in the Global Struggle for Equality

The ongoing Black History Month also celebrates the birth anniversary of W.E.B. Du Bois, a black civil rights activist and contemporary of Ambedkar. The Mooknayak sheds light on the commonality between the black movement and the untouchable movement in India in light of the brief correspondence between Ambedkar and Du Bois.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, better known as W.E.B. Du Bois, was an African-American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, and writer. He was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA, and died on August 27, 1963, in Accra, Ghana.

Du Bois was one of the most influential intellectuals of the 20th century and a leading figure in the civil rights movement in the United States. He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, where he studied history, sociology, and economics.

Throughout his career, Du Bois advocated for racial equality, civil rights, and social justice. He co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and served as the editor of its magazine, The Crisis, for several years. He also played a significant role in the Niagara Movement, which preceded the NAACP and advocated for civil rights and equal treatment for African Americans.

Du Bois's scholarship and activism covered a wide range of topics, including the social and economic conditions of African Americans, the history of the African diaspora, and the intersections of race, class, and gender. His most famous work is perhaps "The Souls of Black Folk," a collection of essays first published in 1903, where he famously coined the term "double consciousness" to describe the experience of being African American in a society that often views them through a lens of racial prejudice.

Later in his life, Du Bois became increasingly involved in Pan-Africanism, advocating for the unity and liberation of people of African descent worldwide. He eventually moved to Ghana, where he died in 1963, becoming a citizen of the newly independent African nation.

Du Bois's contributions to civil rights and African-American intellectual thought continue to be celebrated today.

Blacks and Dalits: The analogy of discrimination that binds them together

Blacks in America were suffering a similar situation in their country as the untouchables in India, although they were relatively well placed and had limited options of self-employment, business, and education as well. But the congruencies between the black movement and the depressed class movement in India were strong enough to engage and inspire each other. In 1972, a group of disgruntled Dalit youths started Dalit Panther, largely modeled on the radical outfit Black Panther of the U.S.

But about 100 years before that, Jyotiba Rao Phule dedicated his book “Ghulamgiri,” a trenchant critique of the Caste System, to the “American Abolitionist” and equated the condition between both the oppressed communities in the book by saying, “This system of slavery, to which the Brahmins reduced the lower classes, is in no respects inferior to that which obtained a few years ago in America. In the days of rigid Brahmin dominance, so lately as that of the time of the Peshwa, my Shudra Brethren had even greater hardships and oppression practiced upon them than what even the slaves in America had to suffer.”

The Correspondence between Dr. Ambedkar and Du Bois

Ambedkar and Du Bois both shared certain similarities in their approach to fight caste discrimination and racism respectively. For example, Ambedkar wanted his people to attain education, raise awareness, and struggle to fight for their rights, similarly, Du Bois emphasized quality education to compete with the whites. So when Ambedkar published Mooknayak (1920), Bahishkrut Bharat (1927), and Prabuddha Bharat (1956), Du Bois played an instrumental role in the establishment of The Crisis Magazine. However, the correspondence between the two contemporaries sheds more light on their views on racism and caste.

It is presumed that the time spent in the U.S by Ambedkar to complete his M.A and Ph.D. may have influenced his thinking, although his writings bear no such inference to reach this conclusion. In 1946, Ambedkar wrote a letter to Professor Du Bois to express his interest in the petition filed by the Negros of America to the U.N.O, which was established less than a year ago on 24th of October 1945. In the letter, Ambedkar declares himself as belonging to the Untouchables of India and states that there is a similarity between the positions of Negroes in America and Untouchables of India. “There is so much similarity between the position of the Untouchables in Indian and of the position of the Negroes in America that the study of the latter is not only natural but necessary,” he writes. Ambedkar ends the letter by requesting for the copies of the representation sent by the Negros to the U.N.O at his address.

In his response, Du Bois replies that he is enclosing a copy of the statement made by the Negro Congress and promises to send copies of a more comprehensive letter. In the second part of the short letter, he recognizes Ambedkar’s work and expresses familiarity with his work, “I have often heard of your name and work and of course have every sympathy with the Untouchables of India. I shall be glad to be of any service I can render if Possible in the future.”

The Mooknayak spoke to Professor Prabodhan Pal, Assistant Professor, Manipal Centre for Humanities, pointing out the significance of the correspondence. He says, “Even this brief correspondence manages to shed light on the popularity and recognition of Ambedkar beyond India and shows his stature internationally. It is the first premise to understand the link of social justice, liberty between the two great movements. It also serves as a reminder that nothing will be gained by being parochial in approach and we will have to establish dialogue between all the oppressed communities.