Final answer:
Du Bois connected the political status of African Americans in the South to a mix of socioeconomic factors and the attitudes of White southerners.
Step-by-step explanation:
Du Bois emphatically stated that the political status of the Negro in the South is inextricably linked to numerous socioeconomic factors, historical contexts, and the prevailing attitudes of White southerners. Economic dependency, educational opportunities, and societal prejudice all play critical roles in this complex equation. The suppression of political rights, such as the disfranchisement of Black people, was a direct byproduct of these circumstances.
In Du Bois's view, progress for African Americans was not solely reliant on self-help as posited by Booker T. Washington, but also on the societal shift in the white community's views and actions. He argued for a more comprehensive educational approach that included a liberal arts education to develop leaders, challenging Washington's stress on vocational education. Du Bois believed that the acknowledgment and protection of political rights for African Americans would inevitably come, not by external pressure, but through a natural process of growth in relations between Black people and supportive White southerners.