Reading Du Bois through Religion and Religious Commitment

The ‘Natural’ Accord of DuBois and Washington: An Environmentally Racialized Consciousness

“…14 One could argue that DuBois inhabited a "creative and earthy form of Christian faith" that mirrored a form of religious naturalism, or rather an ethos that used a naturalistic framework to affirm religion and regard the physical environment with a sense of profound admiration, respect, and meaning. [35][36][37] Through his understanding of religion as a naturalistic practice he was equally troubled with how racism wounded the moral and spiritual connection of Black Americans with nature and asked, "Why do not those who are scarred in the world's battle and hurt by its hardness travel to these places of beauty and drown themselves in the utter joy of life?" 38 When DuBois imparted this question in Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil, he retorted "Did you ever see a "Jim-Crow" waiting room?"…”

The Sociological Spirituality of W. E. B. Du Bois's Prayers for Dark People

“…Early framings of Du Bois's scrutiny of religion—as a critic who “penned a torrent of eloquent Black jeremiads” (Howard‐Pitney 1986:487)—traces to the mid‐late 20th century (e.g., Brodwin 1972; Green and Smith 1983; Lange 1983; Long 1976; Marable 1985; Miller 1956; Moses 1975; Robinson 1977; Rudwick 1957). By the early 21st century, scholarship matured to highlight Du Bois's relationship to faith as both an object of study and a personal deliberation (e.g., Blum 2007; Hufford 1997; Johnson 2012; Pinn 2003, 2014; Ramey 2002; Savage 2000; Sinitiere 2021; Wortham 2009; Zuckerman, Barnes, and Cady 2003).…”

“…Given this ambivalence, debate about Du Bois's personal beliefs on religion and science now flourish (e.g., Blum 2007; Hughey 2022; Johnson 2012; Kahn 2009; Pinn 2014; Segre 2021; Sinitiere 2021; Stewart 2020; Tuck 2020; Williams 2012; Wortham 2009). Scholars’ attempts to unravel this knotted dilemma focus on Du Bois's evaluations of, and lived experiences with, an array of religious traditions: from the African Methodist Episcopal church and Hinduism to Islam and the Bahá’í Faith (Buck 2012; Goyal 2019; Lahiri 2010; Mount 2013; Mullen and Watson 2005).…”

“…At this juncture, Du Bois's Prayers for Dark People comes to the fore. As Pinn (2014:370) wrote, “Du Bois approached religion with a degree of disinterest, as a matter of intellectual and political dissection, and then there are his ‘prayers’.” Dorrien (2015:31) claimed Du Bois “wrote moving prayers during his teaching career.” And Aptheker (1980:viii) opined that Du Bois “never lost a certain sense of religiosity, of some possible supernatural creative force . .…”

“…. prayers show another facet of the complex totality of Du Bois.” Despite these evaluations, only a handful of few scholars acknowledge Prayers (e.g., Abolade 2021; Blum 2007; Hufford 1997; Kahn 2009; Pinn 2014). Notably, there remains a looming absence of sociological engagement with Prayers :

Beyond book reviews, Prayers was barely a blip on the sociologicalradar.

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