The Problem of the Twentieth Century is the Problem of the Color line

In this passage Du Bois elaborates on the problem with the color line in a narrator point of view. Which, in 1901 he was 32 years old, and noticed that the main problem in the 20th century was the color line. During this era Du Bois stressed that during that time, Negros looked forward to three things, 1) peace, 2)progress, 3) the breaking of the color line. Although, the only thing to ever come out of those wants at that time were, war, hate, the revolt of the colored peoples and the fear of more war. The 15 million citizens of the United States who are descended from the slaves, brought here between 1600 and 1900 formed in 1901 a separate group because of legal enslavement and emancipation into caste conditions, with the attendant poverty, ignorance, disease and crime.


There were 7 things Du Bois focused on, which were the 7 different wants. The wants were education, right to vote and civil rights; work with adequate wages; housing in a decent living area; a free press; and social equality. Education in 1901 was in perilous condition, despite what anyone said, civil rights were oppressed, there was NO right or opportunity to work at an income that would allow for one to live a standard life, living situations were typically in the slums or ghettos with high violence rates and disease infested areas, the press was poor, few papers, and there was no social equality, Negros were not even allowed to stop in a decent hotel, or eat in a public restaurant. They weren’t allowed to do the things that a white person were allowed to do.

Although, there has been advancements, and there is no question that progress has been made over time. Leaders like Booker Washington, Martin Luther King Jr, and Jesse Jackson have all helped and encouraged the positive outlook on things. The Niagara movement, which occurred in 1906 and the NAACP in 1909 were two things that really brought this issue to everyone’s attention. First off, education, today everyone gets the opportunity of education, and higher education. Secondly, civil rights was a great advance, violence was down. Third was the right to vote, the 14th and 15th amendments made sure that there were now laws in the constitution, not to be taken away. Fourth, was the work force. Although still pay wages are not completely equal, not just among African Americans, they are still down with women as well. Housing, still a little poor, but with time we have seen advancements, still not perfect though. The free press had improved greatly compared to 1900, news coverage and circulation. And finally, social equality, which is still the ongoing issue today. Although we have seen many advancements with laws and regulations to prevent social inequality from happening, it is still one of the largest issues the United States still faces today.

In modern day some of these issues have diminished, due to the fact that we are forced to come together, but those seven things that Du Bois really focuses on, still to this day do affect the way things happen in our everyday life and society.