Chapter 18, "The Perpetual Dilemma" Summary and Analysis

Washington dies of heart problems and Lewis says that the obituary Du Bois writes for him is "stately and judgmental." Du Bois talks about how much blacks have to thank the man for as well as blaming him for a weakening of the college system. A new era begins at Tuskegee with a president who dislikes Jim Crow laws.

Americans are also looking to new rulers. Most hope to stay out of the blazing conflict going on in Europe and they have a promise from Wilson that this will be so. It seems unlikely that America can stay out of the war which is so big that it forces 50-year-old German school chums of Du Bois to put on uniforms and go to the front. Du Bois writes an essay showing that the...