The Negro Problem

Contributors: Booker T. WashingtonW. E. B. Du BoisCharles W. ChesnuttWilford H. SmithH. T. KealingPaul Laurence DunbarT. Thomas Fortune

The Negro Problem is a collection of seven essays by prominent Black American writers, such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Paul Laurence Dunbar, edited by Booker T. Washington, and published in 1903. It covers law, education, disenfranchisement, and Black Americans' place in American society.

Like much of Washington's own work, the tone of the book was that Black Americans' social status in the United States was a matter of personal responsibility, but it also confronted issues of legal and social racism. While this represented the point of view of the authors at the time, some—Du Bois, for example—would later revise their stance to consider the effects of systemic and institutional racism. (Description Source: Wikipedia)

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A black-and-white illustration of a Black person wearing a loose white garb while they step onto a rock with one foot. Their arms are stretched out and up toward a book in the sky. Above the book in the sky are the words "The Negro Problem Solved" within the clouds. It appears they are on an island with palm trees in the background and water surrounding. Artist credit: Hollis Read, 1864. Source: Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division.

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