Bass & Beyond

Charlotta Bass & W.E.B Du Bois: A Dynamic Relationship in the Fight for Racial Justice

Charlotta Bass and W.E.B. Du Bois shared a deep commitment to the advancement of African Americans in the face of intense racial discrimination.

Charlotta Bass, the legendary editor of the California Eagle, and W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most prominent Black intellectuals of the 20th century, shared a complex and dynamic relationship that reflected their commitment to racial justice and equality. Both Bass and Du Bois were towering figures within the Black freedom struggle, using their platforms in journalism, academia, and activism to challenge the systemic racism that Black Americans faced. Yet, despite their shared goals, they had distinct perspectives, methods, and sometimes divergent paths. In examining their relationship, we can trace the ways they intersected in their fight for equality, the points where they differed, and how they collectively shaped the Black press and political movements of their time.

Shared Ideals: The Struggle for Black Liberation

Charlotta Bass and W.E.B. Du Bois shared a deep commitment to the advancement of African Americans in the face of intense racial discrimination. Both were concerned with how the Black experience was reported in mainstream media and saw the need for Black voices to lead the narrative. For Du Bois, this led to his role in founding The Crisis as the official publication of the NAACP. For Bass, it meant taking the helm of the California Eagle in 1912, turning it into one of the most influential Black newspapers on the West Coast. Both understood that the media could be a powerful weapon in the fight against racial injustice.

Du Bois and Bass often addressed similar issues in their respective publications, such as lynching, segregation, and economic inequality. Bass admired Du Bois’s intellectual rigor, particularly his influential work The Souls of Black Folk,where he famously wrote about the concept of “double consciousness” — the internal conflict African Americans faced as they navigated their identity in a racially oppressive society. This idea resonated with Bass, who also confronted the burden of being a Black woman editor in a male-dominated and racially hostile field.

Journalism and Activism

Du Bois and Bass shared a mutual respect for their roles in journalism and activism. They crossed paths several times, notably within the NAACP, where Bass was an active member and correspondent. Du Bois, one of the organization’s founders, often communicated with Bass about the role of the Black press in advocating for civil rights. Both understood that journalism was not merely a profession but a form of activism, a way to mobilize communities and create a public discourse around issues often ignored by the white press.

In the early 20th century, the Black press was among the few spaces where African Americans could exercise free speech. For both Bass and Du Bois, this meant fearlessly reporting on issues like police brutality, racial violence, and political disenfranchisement. They believed the press should not merely report but also advocate for the oppressed. Bass’s California Eagle became a major outlet for reporting on the social and political challenges facing Black Americans on the West Coast. At Bass’s Vice Presidential Nomination speech in 1952 she stated:

“I will continue to cry out against police brutality against any people, as I did in the infamous zoot suit riots in Los Angeles in 1944, when I went into dark alleys and reached scared and badly beaten Negro and Mexican American boys, some of them children, from the clubs and knives of city police.”

Du Bois, meanwhile, used The Crisis to speak to a national and global audience. He once recounted, for example, a grisly lynching to paint a picture of this nationwide campaign of domestic terror against Black Americans:

“It is horrible, but it is matched in horror by scores of others, in the last thirty years, and in its illegal, law-defying, race-hating aspect, it is matched by 2842 other lynchings which have taken place between January 1, 1885, and June 1, 1916.”

The Fight Against Imperialism and Global Racism

Both Bass and Du Bois were vocal critics of American imperialism and global racial injustice. They believed that the fight for Black liberation in the United States was connected to broader struggles for decolonization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This anti-imperialist stance was particularly evident during World War II, when both Bass and Du Bois called attention to the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy abroad while denying civil rights to African Americans at home. At Bass’s Vice Presidential Nomination speech in 1952 she stated,

“We fight that all people shall live. We fight to send our money to end colonialism for the colored peoples of the world, not to perpetuate it in Malan’s South Africa, Churchill’s’ Malaya, French Indo-China and Middle East.”

Bass’s international perspective was evident in her coverage of the global fight against fascism, while Du Bois increasingly connected the African American struggle with the global fight against colonialism. As early members of the Pan-African movement, Du Bois and Bass both advocated for solidarity among people of African descent worldwide. Du Bois’s later work, particularly his involvement with the Pan-African Congress, showed the deep connection between African American civil rights and, a theme that Bass also championed in the pages of the California Eagle. Du Bois stated in his Color Line’s Speech,

“Let the nations of the world respect the integrity and independence of the free Negro states of Abyssinia, Liberia, Haiti, and the rest, and let the inhabitants of these states, the independent tribes of Africa, the Negroes of the West Indies and America, and the black subjects of all nations take courage, strive ceaselessly, and fight bravely, that they may prove to the world their incontestable right to be counted among the great brotherhood of mankind.”

Diverging Paths: Political Ideologies

Despite their shared activism, Bass and Du Bois sometimes found themselves on opposing sides of the political spectrum. Du Bois, particularly in his later years, grew more aligned with socialist and even communist ideologies, believing that capitalism was inherently tied to racism and imperialism. In 1961, after joining the Communist Party USA Du Bois said,

“No universal selfishness can bring social good to all,” and “Communism — the effort to give all men what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute — this is the only way of human life.”

While progressive in her politics, Bass was more cautious about aligning herself with socialist and communist movements, partly due to the political climate of the time and the potential repercussions for the California Eagle.

This ideological divergence was most apparent during the Cold War era, when anti-communist sentiment ran high in the United States. Du Bois’s associations with leftist movements led to his being targeted by the U.S. government, including his indictment as a foreign agent. Bass, on the other hand, was able to navigate this turbulent period by maintaining a balance between radical advocacy for civil rights and pragmatic alliances with more mainstream political actors.

Bass’s political evolution culminated in her 1952 vice-presidential campaign as the running mate of Vincent Hallinan for the Progressive Party. This was a groundbreaking moment, as Bass became the first Black woman to run for national office on a third-party ticket. Though she did not win, her candidacy was a bold statement about the need for a political party that would prioritize the needs of working-class Black Americans, a platform that had some overlap with Du Bois’s later socialist leanings, though framed differently.

Legacy and Impact

Despite their occasional ideological differences, the legacies of Charlotta Bass and W.E.B. Du Bois are inextricably linked in the history of the Black press and the struggle for racial justice. They both recognized the power of words and the importance of a free and independent Black press in a society that marginalized Black voices. Through their respective publications, the California Eagle and The Crisis, Bass and Du Bois ensured that Black Americans had a platform to tell their own stories, advocate for their rights, and connect their struggles to a broader global movement for justice.

Du Bois is often remembered as one of the greatest intellectuals of his time, but Bass’s contributions as an editor, activist, and politician deserve equal recognition. Her work in the California Eagle and her bold political advocacy laid the groundwork for future generations of Black journalists and activists. Bass and Du Bois may have approached the fight for equality from different angles at times, but their shared commitment to racial justice was unwavering.

Together, they helped to shape not only the narrative of Black America in the 20th century but also the broader global discourse on race, justice, and democracy. Their relationship serves as a reminder that the fight for justice is multifaceted, often requiring different strategies, ideologies, and voices.

About the Author

Allissa Richardson

Founding Director

Dr. Allissa V. Richardson, founding director of the USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab, researches how African Americans use emerging technologies to build independent news networks. Through the Bass Lab, she has established a central hub for advancing scholarly inquiry into media innovation and justice-driven journalism.

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