Darkwater · Chapter
Of the Ruling of Men explained
Du Bois argues for the necessity of inclusive democracy, rejecting the notion that any group—whether defined by race, sex, or class—can be justly excluded from political participation.
What happens
Du Bois argues for the necessity of inclusive democracy, rejecting the notion that any group—whether defined by race, sex, or class—can be justly excluded from political participation. He critiques the tyranny of majorities and the fallacy of benevolent guardianship, asserting that true democracy requires the enfranchisement of all, including women and Black people, and extends to industrial governance. He emphasizes that only through universal suffrage can society tap the full reservoir of human experience and achieve justice.
Themes in this chapter
Democracy and the Franchise
Central theme: Du Bois argues that the right to vote is not a privilege but a necessity for justice, and that excluding any group undermines democracy itself.
Economic Injustice and Labor Exploitation
Discusses industrial democracy, the monopoly of capital, and the need for workers to have a voice in production and distribution.
Racial Oppression and White Supremacy
Critiques the assumption that Black people are incapable of self-rule and the denial of the ballot to African Americans.
Double Consciousness and the Veil
Implied in the argument that only the individual knows their own condition, and that others' ignorance perpetuates oppression.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Delivers a philosophical and political argument for universal suffrage and democratic inclusion.
Key passages
“no group of twelve million black folk, even though they are at the physical mercy of a hundred million white majority, can be deprived of a voice in their government and of the right to self-development without a blow at the very foundations of all democracy and all human uplift”
Denying Black people the right to vote and self-determination strikes at the core of democracy and human progress.
Du Bois asserts that disfranchisement of Black Americans is an attack on democracy itself.
“the doctrine of the divine right of majorities leads to almost humorous insistence on a dead level of mediocrity”
The belief that majority rule is absolute leads to a demand for conformity and mediocrity.
Critique of the tyranny of the majority and its pressure to conform.
“none are so blind as those nearest the thing seen”
People who are closest to a situation are often the least able to see it clearly.
Applied to husbands who deny women's rights and whites who deny Black humanity.
“the history of the world is the history of the discovery of the common humanity of human beings among steadily-increasing circles of men”
Human progress consists of recognizing the shared humanity of ever-wider groups of people.
Du Bois frames democratic expansion as a historical process of inclusion.
“Infinite is human nature. We make it finite by choking back the mass of men, by attempting to speak for others, to interpret and act for them, and we end by acting for ourselves and using the world as our private property.”
Human potential is limitless, but we limit it by silencing and speaking for others, ultimately serving only ourselves.
Argues that exclusion and paternalism impoverish culture and justice.