Editing WEB Du Bois (section)

== "The Philadelphia Negro" ==

The book "The Philadelphia Negro," published in 1899, presented Du Bois's findings in comprehensive form that combined statistical analysis with historical narrative and social observation. His argument that the "Negro problem" was actually a problem of white discrimination—that African American difficulties reflected barriers imposed rather than inherent limitations—challenged conventional thinking that his era's racism made difficult to accept. The work's reception, respectful but limited in immediate impact, demonstrated how thoroughly racism constrained even scholarly discourse.<ref name="lewis"/>

His documentation of Philadelphia's Black community included attention to institutions—churches, organizations, businesses—that sustained community life amid discrimination. His recognition of class differentiation within the Black community challenged assumptions of racial homogeneity that both racists and some reformers maintained. His combination of sympathy with critical analysis produced portraiture that avoided both condemnation and sentimentality.<ref name="anderson"/>

The study's methodology, its empirical rigor, and its analytical framework established Du Bois as America's first great sociologist, though recognition of this achievement came slowly and incompletely. His Philadelphia research provided the foundation for subsequent work—"The Souls of Black Folk" (1903), his Atlanta University studies, his historical research—that built on methods the Philadelphia project had developed. His later radicalization, his eventual expatriation to Ghana, and his death there in 1963 did not diminish the Philadelphia study's significance as foundational social science.<ref name="lewis"/>