“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” W.E.B. Du Bois spoke these words almost prophetically spoke these words about the ensuing century. It seems as if he glanced into a crystal ball to proclaim inequalities to come such as the Rwandan Genocide, the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education, and the Tuskegee Experiment to proclaim that a change should occur in years to follow. He had every inclination to make such predictions since the course of the nineteenth century had not offered much promise of equality. Addressed July 25, 1900 his speech to the nations of the world pushed for general morality in the treatment of all African descendants, signed confidently to appeal to the ‘civilized world’ in the name of justice. W.E.B. Du Bois referred to the treatment Negroes and other dark men received. These points fell into three categories; equality, power and progress.
“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. It would be several years before the constitution, written in 1776, would secure such rights for Black people. It is this realization that charged W.E.B Dubois to speak on their behalf. He pronounced with vigor that the right to pursue happiness should not be robbed of any man simply because of the pre-existing notions of the caste system, privilege, or birth right. In fact, the equality sought by the Black man could become beneficial to a nation, allowing him to develop intellect and reach the truest potential of himself. Du Bois further acknowledges the exploitation of African wealth, using slaves for gold mine excavation and faith, through misguided missionaries. At this point in the speech it seems as though he realized these systems of discrimination robbed African descendants of their fundamental needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow defined the hierarchy of basic human needs as physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. This hierarchy was structured so that, for example, in order to reach safety needs, physiological needs must first be met. Oppression is a process that takes the sense of safety, belonging, esteem and self-actualization from its victims, a process that Du Bois knew could be broken but with considerable effort.
It is sensible to say that a man who feels unsafe can never experience real power. He cannot demand of the world, his rightful place in it. It follows then that Du Bois’ second aim was to address the issue of power in African nations and in the
W.E.B. Du Bois’ final appeal was to the notion of progress, knowing that without prior conditions being met, progress would become impossibile. He charged that Africans and African descendants should be able to fight to be counted among the brotherhood of mankind. This is the boldest of all requests, yet the simplest in written form. It holds with it the sense of continuance of both equality and power of Africans and African descendants. This calls for modified behaviors on all fronts where ‘respect’ would have to become common place for a race of individuals who had only recently become free.
Infrequent and negligible readings of “To the Nations of the World” do not evoke the emotion and persistence of the message. Preliminary scans of the work may cause its readers to think that its concise nature does not lend itself to delving into the problems of a society of people. The author worked diligently to ensure the need of persons of color to be heard. Conclusively, W.E.B. Du Bois asked that Blacks be given a chance to fail, to succeed, or to enjoy mediocrity but nevertheless a chance. It is with that resolution we take his plight for the education and advancement of colored people to be at the forefront of this speech.
