After 121 Years, It's Time to Recognize W.E.B. Du Bois as a Founding Father of Social Epidemiology

Some sociologists referred to W.E.B. Du Bois, a 19th century sociologist, as the founding father of American Sociology due to his trailblazing social science research, The Philadelphia Negro. However, The Philadelphia Negro globally revolutionized social science and epidemiological research that expands far beyond sociology and the United States. This study, which was groundbreaking for its era in its implication of social, spatial, intercultural, and intracultural health determinants, authenticated the existence of racial disparities and how systemic inequalities impact health. Du Bois was a social epidemiology frontrunner, yet compared to his contemporaries, acknowledgment of his global contributions to social epidemiology has been practically mute. It is time that Du Bois and Duboisian research are fully acknowledged in the social epidemiology field.