The souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois is about Du Bois’ discoveries about African Americans lives and their racial struggles that they went through in the twentieth century. He learned about what it was like to be an African American in the society after the Civil War. Du Bois presents the problem of the “color-line” and being behind the “veil” which results in the concept of “double consciousness”. Double consciousness is viewed as “always looking at one’s self through the eyes of another.” (Du Bois 4). African Americans were struggling through life because they weren’t given the same rights as the rest of Americans but, why is it that they have the name “American” in their name, but they aren’t treated as one?
Through the eyes of double consciousness, African Americans have to question the view of “Americans” or if the part African makes them separate from the rest of the white society. The idea of the “veil” is a metaphor for the separation and invisibility of African Americans lives and their existence in America. Du Bois said “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.” (Du Bois 16) The African American people want to be accepted as one within and not thought of as being a problem or burden to the rest of America. Du Bois realizes they are being oppressed because of the color of their skin, not because of their actions. African Americans have always been viewed as the “lower” class and have been denied human rights because of the way they are viewed. They’re viewed this way because of the negative stereotypes people give them some being, they are all criminals, not educated, violent, and so on. Because of these stereotypes they have the phenomenon, double consciousness.
From the view of double consciousness, African Americans view themselves through the perspective of white’s eyes. By viewing themselves this way it can cause them to struggle to see their real selves rather than what the average white American sees. They feel as if their identity is divided into several parts which makes it difficult to have just one identity. Du Bois talked about this through the concept of race relations in America, he asserted that since African Americans lived in a society that has constantly suppressed and devalued them that it has become difficult for them to unify their “black identity” with their “American identity”. Double Consciousness forces African Americans to not only see themselves from their own perspective but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by the white American view point. The society often portrayed African Americans as criminals and labeled as “bad people” and because of this African Americans believe that is actually what they are and may become criminals. This makes the African Americans have a difficult grasp on what they really are, not what society views them as, being a good example for what double consciousness is. Double consciousness also creates an element of conflict within the African American as a struggle often unsuccessfully to reconcile their identity as being black and as an American citizen. The African Americans were being pushed out of the economic view point and being oppressed politically by the white class. This type of separation was confusing to African Americans because at one time they want to identify as white, so they aren’t oppressed but at the same time they wanted to preserve the black culture and by doing so they would have to separate themselves from the white culture. “One ever feels his twoness, – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body” (Du Bois 179). Du Bois explains in this quote that he hopes for a future where African Americans can be both American and Black and not have to be viewed as having two separate identities at once. Du Bois explains that this would be the true mark of equality. The color-line, which again separates the African Americans from the White Americans is what Du Bois found to be the biggest problem in the whole double consciousness discussion in the twentieth century. The color-line is a symbolic line between the two races but also is a real thing. African Americans and white Americans didn’t live together or around each other although they still lived in the same country. The two races had two totally different lifestyles. Blacks lived through the lives of whites, blacks had separate education, separate churches, separate cars, separate everything. Du Bois stated that in nearly every community a physical line could be drawn on the map where the two races were separated, and they rarely ever came in contact within each other (Du Bois 125). The color line kept the whites and black American’s apart and the black’s side was clearly the least wealthy while the white side was the wealthiest and more upcoming things. This type of segregated community just shows how unequal America was at the time and that the African Americans felt they couldn’t succeed in life as long as the color line existed. The color-line is what’s holding blacks back from trying to be both an American and a black.
The veil and double consciousness are terms closely related due to the double lives the African Americans are living post-civil war. The veil served as an imaginary barrier from whites and blacks. Du Bois states that a black is “sort of a seventh son born with a veil”, seeing himself as a white American would. Although he sees the veil as a negative thing he also sees it as some sort of gift, by making African Americans stronger by being black and pushing through all the negative hate and trying to become a better person in his eyes. Du Bois continuously talks about the veil and how it stands as a metaphor for the separation and invisibility of black life and existence in America. The veil marked a difference between the African American society and the white society. It also shows the separation between whites and blacks and the obstacles that blacks face in gaining self-consciousness in a racist society. It constricts the way African Americans view themselves from the way Whites view them which makes them question their existence. Du Bois pushes to be both black and an American and to be a happy even who is respected by the white Americans and given rights just as they are.
The existence of double consciousness, living with two identities, as a black with all the negative effects and the American identity but not having any rights was the biggest struggle African Americans faced after the Civil war and the end of slavery. A black man would never be just an American or just a black. Du Bois explains all the hardships and struggles they went through and the difficulties of the African American life. Double Consciousness, the veil and the color line all represented the awful extent of racism and describes the social distance between the people in the early twentieth century. All of the segregation and oppression was brought upon them by the color of one’s skin. Du Bois strived to make it possible for them to be both black and an American without being hated on and discriminated by the white Americans. He wanted blacks to view themselves as what they really were not through the eyes of others. Du Bois wanted America to be viewed as one with no segregation and no separation of races because of the negative stereotypes that whites have on the African Americans. The color-line, which again separates the African Americans from the White Americans is what Du Bois found to be the biggest problem in the whole double consciousness discussion in the twentieth century. The color-line is a symbolic line between the two races but also is a real thing. African Americans and white Americans didn’t live together or around each other although they still lived in the same country. The two races had two totally different lifestyles. Blacks lived through the lives of whites, blacks had separate education, separate churches, separate cars, separate everything. Du Bois stated that in nearly every community a physical line could be drawn on the map where the two races were separated, and they rarely ever came in contact within each other (Du Bois 125). The color line kept the whites and black American’s apart and the black’s side was clearly the least wealthy while the white side was the wealthiest and more upcoming things. This type of segregated community just shows how unequal America was at the time and that the African Americans felt they couldn’t succeed in life as long as the color line existed. The color-line is what’s holding blacks back from trying to be both an American and a black.
The veil and double consciousness are terms closely related due to the double lives the African Americans are living post-civil war. The veil served as an imaginary barrier from whites and blacks. Du Bois states that a black is “sort of a seventh son born with a veil”, seeing himself as a white American would. Although he sees the veil as a negative thing he also sees it as some sort of gift, by making African Americans stronger by being black and pushing through all the negative hate and trying to become a better person in his eyes. Du Bois continuously talks about the veil and how it stands as a metaphor for the separation and invisibility of black life and existence in America. The veil marked a difference between the African American society and the white society. It also shows the separation between whites and blacks and the obstacles that blacks face in gaining self-consciousness in a racist society. It constricts the way African Americans view themselves from the way Whites view them which makes them question their existence. Du Bois pushes to be both black and an American and to be a happy even who is respected by the white Americans and given rights just as they are.
The existence of double consciousness, living with two identities, as a black with all the negative effects and the American identity but not having any rights was the biggest struggle African Americans faced after the Civil war and the end of slavery. A black man would never be just an American or just a black. Du Bois explains all the hardships and struggles they went through and the difficulties of the African American life. Double Consciousness, the veil and the color line all represented the awful extent of racism and describes the social distance between the people in the early twentieth century. All of the segregation and oppression was brought upon them by the color of one’s skin. Du Bois strived to make it possible for them to be both black and an American without being hated on and discriminated by the white Americans. He wanted blacks to view themselves as what they really were not through the eyes of others. Du Bois wanted America to be viewed as one with no segregation and no separation of races because of the negative stereotypes that whites have on the African Americans.