Alexander Crummell Character Analysis

Like Booker T. Washington, Alexander Crummell also gets his own chapter in The Souls of Black Folk, although Du Bois’ presentation of Crummell is much more flattering. Indeed, Du Bois’ inclusion of the chapter on Crummell works to show an alternative model of black leadership to Washington’s conciliatory approach. Like Washington, Crummell was born during slavery, although unlike Washington his family members were free and living in the North. Despite facing immense racist opposition, Crummell managed to study and be ordained as an Episcopal Priest. He then went on to study at the University of Cambridge, England, where he devised the concept of Pan-Africanism, which advocated the unification of all black people in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Africa, in order to end racist injustice. Crummell went to live in Liberia for 20 years, before returning to the United States. Du Bois contrasts Crummell with Washington, but also with John Jones. Both Crummell and Jones are faced with the temptation to become embittered, to give up hope, and to doubt if they are doing the right thing. They are both subjected to humiliation and find themselves in highly dangerous situations. However, Jones, unlike Crummell, succumbs to these temptations, and eventually perishes in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Although Crummell’s story serves as an inspirational model within the book, its juxtaposition alongside the story of John Jones reminds the reader that the success Crummell achieved was near miraculous.