Black Feminists and Du Bois: Respectability,Protection,and Beyond

Abstract

Throughout his life, W.E.B. Du Bois was an advocate for black women. However, in his article of 1898, "The Study of the Negro Problems," he posits a model of the intellectuals, the investigators who analyze Negro problems, as male. In other writings, the most important being "The Damnation of Women," Du Bois focuses his attention on black women as mothers, workers, and activists but not as intellectuals. This is why contemporary black feminist intellectuals continue to claim him as an important ancestor even as they critique some of his failures around gender. The author's research attempts to enhance and extend the intellectual agendas Du Bois set in motion by being attentive to both gender and race.

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