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'''William Edward Burghardt Du Bois''' (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was a prominent American civil rights activist, sociologist, historian and militant activist. He joined the [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Communist party]] and moved to Africa, where he was largely forgotten. DuBois was awarded the [[Stalin Peace Prize]] in 1959.

'''William Edward Burghardt Du Bois''' (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was a prominent American civil rights activist, sociologist, historian and militant activist. He joined the [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Communist party]] and moved to Africa, where he was largely forgotten. DuBois was awarded the [[Stalin Peace Prize]] in 1959.

In 1909, Du Bois was a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which, according to Du Bois, "had a strong socialist element in its leadership in persons like Mary Ovington, [[William English Walling]] and Charles Edward Russell."<ref>[http://socalcpusa.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-du-bois-joins-communist-party.html W.E.B. Du Bois Joins the Communist Party], Southern California Communist Party USA, Saturday, February 28, 2009</ref> In 1911 he joined the Socialist Party, but in the following year's Presidential election endorsed Democrat Woodrow Wilson, who would repay his support by sending Du Bois to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Du Bois, however, remained a committed socialist, contributing regularly to the socialist press. Du Bois wrote that he "hailed the Russian Revolution of 1917."<ref>[http://socalcpusa.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-du-bois-joins-communist-party.html W.E.B. Du Bois Joins the Communist Party], Southern California Communist Party USA, Saturday, February 28, 2009</ref>  In 1917, he joined the [[Intercollegiate Socialist Society]].<ref>[http://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b010-i143 Intercollegiate Socialist Society membership card, April 1917], University of Massachusetts Amherst</ref>

In 1909, Du Bois was a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which, according to Du Bois, "had a strong socialist element in its leadership in persons like Mary Ovington, [[William English Walling]] and Charles Edward Russell."<ref>[http://socalcpusa.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-du-bois-joins-communist-party.html W.E.B. Du Bois Joins the Communist Party], Southern California Communist Party USA, Saturday, February 28, 2009</ref> In 1911 he joined the Socialist Party, but in the following year's Presidential election endorsed Democrat Woodrow Wilson, who would repay his support by sending Du Bois to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Du Bois, however, remained a committed socialist, contributing regularly to the socialist press. Du Bois wrote that he "hailed the Russian Revolution of 1917."<ref>[http://socalcpusa.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-du-bois-joins-communist-party.html W.E.B. Du Bois Joins the Communist Party], Southern California Communist Party USA, Saturday, February 28, 2009</ref>  In 1917, he joined the [[Intercollegiate Socialist Society]].<ref>[http://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b010-i143 Intercollegiate Socialist Society membership card, April 1917], University of Massachusetts Amherst</ref>

In 1927 Du Bois first visited the Soviet Union. He called the Soviet system "the most hopeful vehicle for the world." He spent the next 12 years as a Communist propagandist, trying (and failing) to convert the NAACP into a [[Communist]] front. In 1935 he published the book ''Black Reconstruction'', a Marxist interpretation of the Reconstruction Era. The following year, Du Bois traveled to Nazi Germany, gushing that Hitler “showed Germany a way out when most Germans saw nothing but impenetrable mist,” explaining, “They have domestic peace after a generation of wars; they have a nation at work, after a nightmare of unemployment.” The same year, on a speaking tour (sponsored by Imperial Japan) of Manchukou (the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria) and Japan, Du Bois urged China to welcome the Japanese invaders as liberators.

In 1927 Du Bois first visited the Soviet Union. He called the Soviet system "the most hopeful vehicle for the world." He spent the next 12 years as a Communist propagandist, trying (and failing) to convert the NAACP into a [[Communist]] front. In 1935 he published the book ''Black Reconstruction'', a Marxist interpretation of the Reconstruction Era. The following year, Du Bois traveled to Nazi Germany, gushing that Hitler “showed Germany a way out when most Germans saw nothing but impenetrable mist,” explaining, “They have domestic peace after a generation of wars; they have a nation at work, after a nightmare of unemployment.” The same year, on a speaking tour (sponsored by Imperial Japan) of Manchukou (the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria) and Japan, Du Bois urged China to welcome the Japanese invaders as liberators.

In 1939, during the Hitler-Stalin pact, Du Bois agitated against U.S. aid to the allies; the Roosevelt Justice Department indicted him under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, whereupon the NAACP promptly fired him. When Germany turned on Russia in June 1941, Du Bois reversed course, becoming fanatically pro-war.

In 1939, during the Hitler-Stalin pact, Du Bois agitated against U.S. aid to the allies; the Roosevelt Justice Department indicted him under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, whereupon the NAACP promptly fired him. When Germany turned on Russia in June 1941, Du Bois reversed course, becoming fanatically pro-war.

In 1942 DuBois signed a statement of the Citizens Committee to Free Earl Browder, general secretary of the Communist Party (and as the Venona transcripts later revealed the leader of a large Soviet espionage ring), who was then serving a four-year term for using false passports; President Franklin D. Roosevelt released Browder from most of his sentence as a gesture of goodwill to Stalin. DuBois also signed a letter protesting the arrest of Chilean poet and diplomat, Pablo Neruda, a Communist and Soviet agent who was briefly held on charges involving the conspiracy to assassinate Leon Trotsky.

In 1942 DuBois signed a statement of the Citizens Committee to Free Earl Browder, general secretary of the Communist Party (and as the Venona transcripts later revealed the leader of a large Soviet espionage ring), who was then serving a four-year term for using false passports; President Franklin D. Roosevelt released Browder from most of his sentence as a gesture of goodwill to Stalin. DuBois also signed a letter protesting the arrest of Chilean poet and diplomat, Pablo Neruda, a Communist and Soviet agent who was briefly held on charges involving the conspiracy to assassinate Leon Trotsky.

In 1945, Du Bois was appointed associate consultant to the American delegation to the founding conference of the United Nations, under Secretary-General Alger Hiss. In April 1947 Du Bois signed a statement titled "We Negro Americans," which defended the Communist Party. In 1948 he protested the arrest of the twelve top Communist Party leaders. DuBois was also active in such fronts as the American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born, the American Committee for a Democratic Greece, and the Civil Rights Congress. In addition, he supported Communist Party educational fronts like the Jefferson School of Social Science in New York and the California Labor School in San Francisco.  In 1948 he signed an Appeal to the U.S. Government to End the Cold War and to confer with the Soviet Union; this was precisely at the time when the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was being contemplated as a means of defending against the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, which had led to a Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.

In 1945, Du Bois was appointed associate consultant to the American delegation to the founding conference of the United Nations, under Secretary-General Alger Hiss. In April 1947 Du Bois signed a statement titled "We Negro Americans," which defended the Communist Party. In 1948 he protested the arrest of the twelve top Communist Party leaders. DuBois was also active in such fronts as the American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born, the American Committee for a Democratic Greece, and the Civil Rights Congress. In addition, he supported Communist Party educational fronts like the Jefferson School of Social Science in New York and the California Labor School in San Francisco.  In 1948 he signed an Appeal to the U.S. Government to End the Cold War and to confer with the Soviet Union; this was precisely at the time when the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was being contemplated as a means of defending against the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, which had led to a Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.

In 1950, Du Bois ran for the New York State Senate on the American Labor Party ticket, and lost. Eight years later, he joined Trotskyists, ex-Communists, and independent radicals in proposing the creation of a new "popular front" coalition to challenge for seats in the New York State elections.

In 1950, Du Bois ran for the New York State Senate on the American Labor Party ticket, and lost. Eight years later, he joined Trotskyists, ex-Communists, and independent radicals in proposing the creation of a new "popular front" coalition to challenge for seats in the New York State elections.

Du Bois went back to China during Mao's “Great Leap Forward,” denied the concomitant famine (which claimed more than seven million victims), and defended the brutal Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolt of 1956. In 1961 he joined the Communist Party,<ref>Peter Kihiss, "[http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/05/specials/dubois-communist.html Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois Joins Communist Party at 93]," ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 23, 1961</ref> stating:

Du Bois went back to China during Mao's “Great Leap Forward,” denied the concomitant famine (which claimed more than seven million victims), and defended the brutal Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolt of 1956. In 1961 he joined the Communist Party,<ref>Peter Kihiss, "[http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/05/specials/dubois-communist.html Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois Joins Communist Party at 93]," ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 23, 1961</ref> stating:

{{cquote|Capitalism cannot reform itself. Communism -- the effort to give all ... what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute -- this is the only way of human life.<ref>[http://www.cpusa.org/african-american-communist-w-e-b-du-bois-1868-1963-/ African American Communist: W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)], [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Communist Party USA]]</ref>}}

{{cquote|Capitalism cannot reform itself. Communism -- the effort to give all ... what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute -- this is the only way of human life.<ref>[http://www.cpusa.org/african-american-communist-w-e-b-du-bois-1868-1963-/ African American Communist: W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)], [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Communist Party USA]]</ref>}}