W.E.B. DuBois is an incredibly profound writer and activist. His book, The Souls of Black Folk, depicts a troublesome world that unfortunately took place in our society in the twentieth century. The major issue, as DuBois states, was the problem of the color-line. The color-line is the invisible line that segregates. This color-line in turn creates a double consciousness, which DuBois further discusses along his concept of the veil. Double consciousness is "this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (38). DuBois' veil concept is something that is worn by all African-Americans because they are able to see the world they live in but people on the other side, or outside of the veil, are unable to see behind the veil to relate to the world in which African-Americans live. The veil means that African-Americans are seeing themselves through their own eyes as well as the eyes of others while others can only see African-Americans through their own eyes and not the eyes of the African-American. The economic, political, and social opportunities of African-Americans at the time were nothing close to the opportunities whites, especially white men, held at the time. DuBois wanted this veil to be cast aside and he worked towards that goal his whole life. However, in The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois acknowledges the veil as being both a horrible curse to African-Americans but also a sort of blessing. In Chapter XI, "Of the Passing of the First-Born," DuBois accounts his infant son's death and decides that he is, "not dead, not dead, but escaped; not bond, but free. No bitterness now shall sicken his baby heart till it die a living death, no taunt shall madden his happy boyhood" (162). DuBois decides that his baby died before he knew the pain of the veil he was born into, before the double consciousness set in, so he died in love and happiness. I believe that this veil is actually present in more than just the African-American community. The veil can be present in any minority group and also in women versus men. The double-consciousness concept can be for anyone really. A rich man and a poor man, a man and a women, Black and White, Black and Latino or Hispanic, foreigner and American, and any other two groups that have grown up knowing different cultures, beliefs, and identity rules. America has come along way with civil rights but I believe no matter what we do the prejudices that continually pass down to us from our ancestors will never be totally gone. People will continue to have rascist or prejudice feelings, depending on where they have come from, what they know, and what they have learned. No matter what the law says, society still has norms and functions differently depending on the groups in it. The entire group concept is forever strong and will forever be strong. Even before each chapter, DuBois begins with a part of a Sorrow Song which identifies and unites the African-American slave community through the mutual suffering they experienced. People identify themselves as a race, a religion, or even a political party and they stay committed to the beliefs held by that group. So they will see themselves as how they see themselves and how others see them but like DuBois states, others will only be able to see them through their own eyes.
Another concept that I though was well addressed in both DuBois' chapter on Booker T. Washington as well as his chapter, "Of the Coming of John," was the importance and affect of education. With education, those in poverty and those that were subordinate were able to see how the world worked. Education led to knowledge of and awareness of injustice in the world and the fact that one may or may not be able to do anything about it. For example, John Jones gained a morbid and contempt view of his home town where people just accepted their lives and how the whites treated them with the Jim Crow laws. When Jones traveled north and attempted college and the real world he came to realize his "place" and how he couldn't see how he would ever be accepted for his hard work. He gained the knowledge that opened up the current events of his country. Education is key for any progress in the world to be made, especially concerning the economic, politics, and society. The more people know, the better the decisions they can make because they will understand the concepts they need to understand in order to make those decisions. In today's world, many people may only vote based off what they have heard, and on prejudices or opinions they have grown up with, not on being formally and unbiasedly educated in what they want to be changed and what is problematic in the country to make an educated decision. When people are educated they are able to be, in a way, "free", to think for themselves because they have enough knowledge on enough topics to form strong opinions and beliefs which haven't been passed down to them. One reason I believe many people are stuck in poverty and hardships is the lack of education they receive and the constant cycle of only knowing what they have learned and seen from family and friends. The more people are educated about what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present and the affects present actions and decisions will have on the future, the less likely there will be a repeat of the past. A repeat of these struggles that DuBois so articulately described in The Souls of Black Folk. The more we fight to educate and realize that trying to keep certain groups in poverty or without having a say in our country/world, the less we'll be able to benefit from working together and coming to a mutual understanding of what we need as a whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment