W.E.B. Du Bois, China, and the “World Revolution”

This essay will examine Du Bois's support for China's emergence as a Communist state in context of his participation in what I call the 'diasporic international.'  The diasporic international includes among others China supporters like Anna Louise Strong and Agnes Smedley, and anti-colonial leaders George Padmore and Jawaharlal Nehru.  It joined support for anti-colonial struggles in the Third World to support for Communist Internationalism. Both constituted
what has been called Third World or Bandung Era politics. One of the sources used to demonstrate the politics of the diasporic international will be writings on China by Du Bois and others in the journal United Asia. The essay will also argues that Du Bois's support for Chinese Communism can be characterized as "anti-Stalinist Stalinism."  This mode of politics can best be understood as a dedication to national liberation struggles by non-white nations intended to show preference for China in the Sino-Soviet political debate. The essay will demonstrate Du Bois's "anti-Stalinist Stalinism" by paying particular attention to DuBois's writings on China done during his final visits to the country before his death in 1963.
Finally, the essay will argue that Du Bois¹s support for China prefigured the strong attachment of African American radicals of the 1960s to Chinese liberation struggle, and Mao Tse-Tung¹s open support for African American national liberation.  This is evident in Mao¹s 1963 ³Statement Supporting the Afro-American in Their Just Struggle Against Racial Discrimination by U.S. Imperialism,² visits to China by Robert F. Williams and Vicki Garvin, and support for China by the U.S. Black Panther Party.