Scan barcode
mittland's review against another edition
5.0
must read!!! what a page turner! du bois never misses: politics, fiction, poetry... what can't he do!
skbledsoe's review against another edition
3.0
It's an intense political, civil rights, philosophy book. It gave me a lot to think about and go over in my head over the last month, but overall this was a hard book to push through. I think if you want to know more about how race is talked about on a civil rights level, this is THE book to start with. But, when I was given the choice between reading this and other activities, I choose other activities. There is so much to think about and so much going on that it can be a chore to get through.
It paints a deeper picture of racism, not just as prejudice or xenophobia, but as a philosophical structure that claims that all men are create equal, but not all people are men. DuBois goes after European nations for invading the rest of the world and forcing their rule on everyone else. In fact, what DuBois has done is take socialist concepts of the time and extend them to race. He recognizes the plight of the working class, but shows while the right to assemble and unionization helped white workers, this right either did not extend to Asian, Black, and Native peoples, or unions were formed in order to drive these "other" work forces out of town. There's a lot of this, where he recognizes how the working class of the world is kept down through various means (like educating people only to work, poor infrastructure, and generally ignoring the voice of the people), but then goes on to how imperilism and captilism affects black people and women. At the time, working people had no voice but were fighting for it, while he tells that women 'had there husbands to speak for them' and blacks were generally ignored.
This book goes well with all the Bertrand Russell I've been reading, because they both look at problems in their society a century ago that hasn’t changed much. DuBois looks at imperialism and how nations extending into non-European nations have elected despots and turned the people in slaves for the lands resources. Another book written more recently, The Great Escape, points out while this practice doesn't happen as often today, what does happen is going to these former countries and handing them a large wad of money to "be a capitalist nation". This incentives the current ruler to change nothing, and forces their country into further poverty. In fact, Darkwaters is a good companion to The Great Escape because Darkwater asks for better education and democracy while The Great Escape shows how those things makes a nation better off and more equal.
I do want to touch on democracy, because both DuBois and Russell draw conclusions that don't work. DuBois contradicts himself within a few paragraphs, as well. He argues that when people are given the right to speak for themselves in government manners, then the lower class will rise up and the oppressors will be overthrown. There is this common thread in all socialist philosophy from the time period that all workers and the oppressed will see their common plight and will vote accordingly. I feel that's it was an academic problem where all academics felt that hard labor was beneath them and academic life was the pinnacle of the good life. DuBois is not nearly as bad as Russell in this thought, but it's there. I'm talking about goals of groups of people, and I say it's a contradiction because while DuBois mentions the socialist utopia idea several times, he talks about how unions of workers drove black workers out of their cities.
There is so much more in this book. How the government ignored the WW1 veterans. A bunch of short stories illustrating various points. It's very intense, and hard to get through because it tackles such big concepts. Overall, if you want to understand how racism is talked about on civil rights and philosophical level, this is the place to start.
It paints a deeper picture of racism, not just as prejudice or xenophobia, but as a philosophical structure that claims that all men are create equal, but not all people are men. DuBois goes after European nations for invading the rest of the world and forcing their rule on everyone else. In fact, what DuBois has done is take socialist concepts of the time and extend them to race. He recognizes the plight of the working class, but shows while the right to assemble and unionization helped white workers, this right either did not extend to Asian, Black, and Native peoples, or unions were formed in order to drive these "other" work forces out of town. There's a lot of this, where he recognizes how the working class of the world is kept down through various means (like educating people only to work, poor infrastructure, and generally ignoring the voice of the people), but then goes on to how imperilism and captilism affects black people and women. At the time, working people had no voice but were fighting for it, while he tells that women 'had there husbands to speak for them' and blacks were generally ignored.
This book goes well with all the Bertrand Russell I've been reading, because they both look at problems in their society a century ago that hasn’t changed much. DuBois looks at imperialism and how nations extending into non-European nations have elected despots and turned the people in slaves for the lands resources. Another book written more recently, The Great Escape, points out while this practice doesn't happen as often today, what does happen is going to these former countries and handing them a large wad of money to "be a capitalist nation". This incentives the current ruler to change nothing, and forces their country into further poverty. In fact, Darkwaters is a good companion to The Great Escape because Darkwater asks for better education and democracy while The Great Escape shows how those things makes a nation better off and more equal.
I do want to touch on democracy, because both DuBois and Russell draw conclusions that don't work. DuBois contradicts himself within a few paragraphs, as well. He argues that when people are given the right to speak for themselves in government manners, then the lower class will rise up and the oppressors will be overthrown. There is this common thread in all socialist philosophy from the time period that all workers and the oppressed will see their common plight and will vote accordingly. I feel that's it was an academic problem where all academics felt that hard labor was beneath them and academic life was the pinnacle of the good life. DuBois is not nearly as bad as Russell in this thought, but it's there. I'm talking about goals of groups of people, and I say it's a contradiction because while DuBois mentions the socialist utopia idea several times, he talks about how unions of workers drove black workers out of their cities.
There is so much more in this book. How the government ignored the WW1 veterans. A bunch of short stories illustrating various points. It's very intense, and hard to get through because it tackles such big concepts. Overall, if you want to understand how racism is talked about on civil rights and philosophical level, this is the place to start.
jcampbell's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
A Page turner with such a unique collection and array of formats within one short book.
nowturtle's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
storybookvisitor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
kkpritchard's review against another edition
4.0
Partial read for Dr. Carter's American Literature 1880-1960.
phenomenecology's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5