Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace

Overview
"Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace" gathers W. E. B. Du Bois's postwar essays that confront the contradictions of Western claims to democracy while empires retain colonies and racial hierarchies. The collection frames the struggle for racial justice as inseparable from the global fight against imperial domination, arguing that genuine peace requires dismantling colonial rule and confronting entrenched white supremacy. Du Bois blends historical analysis, moral critique, and political urgency to call for a reconstruction of international relations after World War II.

Core Arguments
Du Bois insists that democracy cannot be authentic when extended only to metropolitan citizens while millions remain subject peoples in colonies. He exposes how wartime rhetoric about freedom and self-determination rings hollow when applied selectively, and he names the imperial powers' continuity of exploitation as a primary obstacle to postwar peace. The essays link domestic racial oppression, especially in the United States, to imperial practices abroad, showing how both rely on racialized hierarchies that deny political and economic equality.

Historical Context and Evidence
Written as the world emerged from the Second World War, Du Bois's essays respond to the rapid decolonization currents and the growing international discussion about human rights and the role of newly formed institutions. He draws on concrete examples from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, as well as the treatment of Black soldiers and colonial subjects during the war, to show how colonial powers mobilized colonized peoples without granting them political agency. Du Bois also highlights the hypocrisy of Allied rhetoric about "liberation" when colonial empires sought to restore prewar control.

Prescriptions and Political Vision
Du Bois advocates immediate political emancipation for colonized peoples, insisting that economic justice and cultural self-determination must follow. He argues for international solidarity among colonized nations and oppressed racial groups, proposing that a truly democratic world order requires both national sovereignty and global cooperation that respects equality. The essays call for a reorientation of economic systems away from exploitative imperial trade and toward policies that elevate education, land rights, and local governance in formerly colonized societies.

Rhetoric and Method
Combining scholarly rigor with passionate polemic, Du Bois writes with moral clarity and historical depth. He moves between detailed empirical observation and broad philosophical claims, employing statistics, historical narrative, and personal testimony to bolster his case. The prose alternates between searing indictment and constructive imagining, making a forceful appeal to conscience as well as to political calculation.

Legacy and Relevance
The collection proved prescient for the wave of decolonization that followed, influencing activists and intellectuals who sought connections between civil rights, anti-imperialism, and global justice. Du Bois's insistence that race, empire, and democracy are inseparable continues to inform contemporary debates about reparative justice, international development, and racial inequality. The essays remain a vital resource for understanding how claims of democracy can be hollow without a commitment to equality that crosses national borders.