Who's your sociologist? Essay

Who's your sociologist?
The sociologist I am writing about is called William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or Web Du Bois. Web is an African American born on February 23, 1868, in Barrington, Massachusetts. He died at the age of 95, on August 27, 1963, in Accra, Ghana. In his early life, he lived in a European/American community. The town that he lived in did not have Jim Crow laws in place and Web grew up and went to school as any other average white student. The white teachers at his school motivated and helped him achieve in his studies. After completing high school, Web moved to Tennessee and attended the Fisk University. At Fisk University, Web realized the segregation and harsh Jim Crow laws there were in place in the South. When Web experienced this, he was dedicated to studying history, law, and philosophy. His personality as he aged went from beautiful and enjoyable to disappointment and disapproval. After graduating from Fisk University, Web transferred to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While registering for Harvard, some of his credits were not accepted because it was an African-American school. Web became the first African American to ever get a Ph.D. at Harvard University. Web than dedicated his life to have justice for all blacks in the South. A central theory that Web has was "double consciousness." And the idea behind this according to Kristin (2014) "the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it difficult or impossible to have one unified identity"(p.1). When you are living in a black or non-white neighborhood, you have your own system of ideas or your own type of culture. Once you stepped out of this system or area, you had Jim Crow laws in the South and had to act the way that was allowed or approved. Web realized this discrimination in America and tried to explain what was going on. The problem that Web faced was even as he spoke out, very few listened to what was said. The system that was set in America was corrupt and Web decided to travel to Russia and study the Russian Revolution. At this time, Russia was also called the Soviet Union. Web supported communism in the Soviet Union because the idea behind it was to achieve equality. Every citizen was given the same rights and privileges. The most historical and political influence Web created was the formation of the NAACP in 1909. The NAACP's (2006) stated its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination"(page 436). It has been 107 years and the NAACP still believe equality for blacks and white. Web also published the idea of the "talented tenth." The phrase was used to explain the likelihood out of 10 African- Americans that one would become an elite or educated. This encouraged African-American students to continue their schooling, become teachers, writers, etc.