Access to fair and equal education remains one of the most pressing issues of our time. While today, all children are required to attend school in the United States, this is not the case in all societies. In many countries, education is not a childhood right but a privilege, reserved only for the social elite. In many cases, some children are segregated out by class, race, caste, or sex as unworthy for education and excluded them from the educational system.

W. E. B. Du Bois was a highly educated man. The valedictorian of his high school class, Du Bois enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville at sixteen and later became the first black man to receive a doctorate at Harvard. Du Bois recognized the value of his education and saw it as a priceless gift and, like many social reformers, a way to abate the effects of the oppression of minorities in the United States and to allow people to rise up and claim their rightful place in American society.

Early in the twentieth century, Du Bois argued that American society could and would be changed if fair and equal education were available. But Du Bois, the social critic, was well aware that in many parts of the country, particularly the south, education was neither fair nor equal for African Americans, women, or the poor. More controversially, Du Bois criticized the vocational and technical curriculum favored by his Booker T. Washington, his rival and one of America's best known black leaders. Only through an academic curriculum, Du Bois argued, could true racial empowerment be achieved. Without complete intellectual equality, true social equality would never become a reality.

W.E.B Du Bois' ideas on the connections between education and social equality were revolutionary for his time. He knew there would be no easy solution to the social inequality of the early 1900s, but he was willing to try in order to ensure the success and equality of future generations.

"The Training of Negroes for Social Power" (1903)

In "The Training of Negroes for Social Power," Du Bois proposes that the solution to the problem of black disenfranchisement includes tackling ignorance, poverty, and crime in black society. Education is the key to empowerment.

"The Opening of the Library" (1902)

All races must have access to the new Atlanta Public Library, as it is through education and inspiration that change will be made.

"Public Schools" (1916)

Education is the key to solving many social issues. Public schools are the mother of a democratic society, and it is the responsibility of the public education system to break down the social barriers that divide Americans.

"Mixed Schools" (1921)

The public school system is a microcosm of larger society. Du Bois sees children of all races and backgrounds learning together in common classrooms as the best practice for an inclusive, integrated society.

"Education" (1915)

Du Bois stresses the idea that the educational curriculum is just as important as the learning environment and argues that the technical education curriculum for black students is the basis of social inequality and the first barrier to a truly democratic society.

"Dr. Du Bois Explains" (1912)

Du Bois criticizes the low expectations of industrial education for African American children.

In the United States, the right to vote is often taken for granted and for many years, turnout at all but the most highly contested elections has been dismal. Too many Americans forget, however, that the extension of votes to women, African Americans, and (to some degree) poor whites is a relatively recent phenomenon and was won only through concerted struggle. Even today, the struggle to maintain the right to vote is necessary.

Du Bois recognized the power of the ballot box and used the vote as a centerpiece of his plans to bring about social reform and racial equality in the United States. In his early writings, change and equality are intrinsically intertwined, and are only achievable through the extension of the suffrage to every American citizen, regardless of age, race, or sex. Du Bois is persistent in his beliefs that if one has the right to vote, one has the obligation to do so: voting to bring about social change is a civic responsibility, not a burden to be brushed off or discarded. Du Bois is equally insistent upon the importance of voting your conscience. During the 1910s, when the question of granting women the right to vote was a major political issue, Du Bois regularly devoted space in Crisis to both side of the issue, encouraging his readers to know the issues at hand and to vote in any way they believed. He was a staunch supporter of women's suffrage, believing that granting suffrage to all would afford the common man (and woman) with a means to have his voice heard on the national scale.

"Women's Suffrage" (1915)

Du Bois designed this editorial to demonstrate his support for the passing of women's suffrage. However he urges his readers to familiarize themselves with the arguments surrounding the issue and to vote their conscience. Voting and making one's voice heard is ultimately the most important goal.

"The Risk of Women's Suffrage" (1915) by Dean Kelly Miller

Although not written by Dean Kelly Miller, not Du Bois, this article appeared in the Crisis as a response to an August 1915 Crisis symposium supporting women's suffrage. Miller discusses the reasons that women should not be given the right to vote. It is based on archaic ideas of inequality among the sexes and argues the differences between Negro and Woman suffrage.

"Votes for Women" (1915) A Symposium by Leading Thinker of Colored America

In an effort to persuade black America to support the cause of women's suffrage, Du Bois and Crisis recruited the leading black thinkers of the day to comment on their personal reasons for wanting to grant women the right to vote.

"Votes" (1919)

Though short, this editorial sends a strong message. It stresses the need to put black Americans in positions of political power and argues that it is through the vote and the work of black men in government on behalf of their kinsmen that blacks in America will achieve equality and freedom from oppression.

"The Black Vote of Philadelphia" (1905)

Du Bois understands the position of the average black citizen in American society, their struggles, ideals, and politics. This article stresses the need for the American government to instill in its citizens the ideals necessary for them to understand the importance of the democratic process and the rewards of exercising ones rights.

War, by itself, does not discriminate. It touches the lives of people from all backgrounds, social classes, and races, and during the twentieth century in particular, it would have been difficult to find anyone who was not affected in some way by its violence and destruction. Throughout his life, war was a major issue for W. E. B. Du Bois, who frequently wrote about the connections between racial injustice and state violence.

During and after the First World War, Du Bois developed a critique of the war in Europe in which he argued that it was not, as many white Americans imagined, simply a fight among Europeans over European issues. Instead, the war was a product of European imperialism and racial injustice. Du Bois also wrote extensively on the contributions of African Americans to the war effort and on the irony of seeing Black soldiers fight and die to restore democracy in Europe, while returning home to a land of intolerance and legal inequality. Returning black soldiers, he argued, should bring their struggle for equality back with them to their fatherland.

Du Bois' insights into the underlying causes and experiences of war demonstrate his idea that race is the root of conflict and worldwide racial justice is the only way to bring about lasting peace.

"The President and the Soldiers" (1906)

On the surface, this article discusses the unfair treatment of black soldiers in the South and a distrust by many black Americans of President Theodore Roosevelt. On a deeper level, though, Du Bois' true feeling of race equity and the power of the black vote become apparent.

"The African Roots of War" (1915)

On the surface, this article discusses the unfair treatment of black soldiers in the South and a distrust by many black Americans of President Theodore Roosevelt. On a deeper level, though, it reveals Du Bois' true feelings on race equity and the power of the black vote.

"World War and the Color Line" (1914)

In "World War and the Color Line," Du Bois makes known his support for the American government in fighting with the Allies against the Germans. He bases his support of war, however, on the need to defeat Germany in order to promote racial equality worldwide.

"Returning Soldiers" (1919)

This article describes the social conditions in America to which African American soldiers returned at the end of World War I. Du Bois wants his returning "Soldiers of Democracy" to continue their struggle and free America from the evil and hatred that permeates their fatherland.

"The Black Man in the Revolution of 1914-1918" (1919)

This article showcases the discrimination against black soldiers and officers in the United States military during World War I. However it also emphasizes the will of the black soldier to carry out his wartime mission, despite this treatment by Europeans and the United States Army.