W.E.B. DuBois’ life has taught us many lessons. But in this case, he got schooled.
Dubois and the NAACP crafted “An Appeal To The World,” in which they asked the U.N. to help redress the human rights violations happening to us in the U.S.
From Lynchings to gross inequalities in healthcare, housing, and education, Dubois and his team fought for us. “It is not Russia that threatens the United States so much as Mississippi…[I]nternal injustice done to one’s brothers is far more dangerous than the aggression of strangers from abroad,” Dubois wrote.
Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a member of the NAACP board, refused to present the petition at the U.N. meeting, for fear of making the U.S. look bad internationally. Although other nations called for an investigation, the petition was thrown out.
There’s still a lesson for us here.
We should always carefully vet white allies. Although the fight for our liberation sometimes feels never-ending, we must keep fighting. As DuBois knew, we may not see all the changes in our lifetimes, but it’s about building a new world for future generations of our people.