Preview

Souls of Blacks

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
871 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Souls of Blacks
Reflection Paper – The Souls of Black Folk
By: W. E. B. Du Bois

Thesis: W. E. B. Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk is an influential work of art for African American literature. Within this book Du Bois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is connected with the color of people’s skin color." He also represents his concepts of life behind the hard times of race calling it the “double-consciousness theory”, this is the sense of always looking at their selves through the eyes of others," thinking about race in America, in addition to these enduring concepts, “Souls of the black folk” offers an study of the progresses of race, the obstacles to that once race suffers from, and the possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.
Key Points in Support of Thesis Du Bois examines the years immediately following the Civil War; to be specific he touched on subjects about Freedmen's Bureau's role in Reconstruction. The Bureau's failures were due not only to the southern opposition and "national abuse," but also to mismanagement and courts that were biased "in favor of black lawsuits." The Bureau did have successes as well, and its most important contribution to progress was the founding of African American schools. Since the end of Reconstruction in 1876, Du Bois claims that the most significant event in African American history has been the rise of the educator, Booker T. Washington, to his role as spokesman of the race. Du Bois argues that Washington's approach to race relations is counterproductive to the long-term progress of the race. Washington's acceptance of segregation and his emphasis on material progress represent an "old attitude of adjustment and submission." Du Bois asserts that this policy has damaged African Americans by contributing to the loss of the vote, the loss of civil status, and the loss of aid for institutions of higher education. Du Bois insists that "the right to vote," "civic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Manning Marable Summary

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page

    In Manning Marable article the focus was directed to W. E . Du Bois works . Du bios was without a doubt the most influential and intellectual black man in the history of America . Gaining international recognition for his essay souls of the black folks , where he undauntedly and courageously point that racial inequality has been a big issue " the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line " . Du Bois took part in the examination of social and racial movement in the United States and globally . Marable argues that regardless of how good Du Bois works were , some of it like " the relationship between human beings and nature " which was such an essential part of his major work have still not received the recognition and…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    c. Education: Clark graduated from high school and then went on to attend a top culinary school. He was a gifted chess player within in school years.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Du Bois, which was only the beginning of a longer process to familiarize myself with his most important works. Having read The Souls of Black Folks early in my university career in Berlin, Du Bois has ever since frequently crossed my path. Most of the times he did so as key player during the early years of the NAACP, but also and more consistently in his role as one of the intellectual fathers of Pan-Africanism who deeply cared about the plight of what he called the “darker races” all around the globe. Never wary to point out what he saw as the real causes of the racial and social problems of his time, Du Bois raised the ire of both the white and the black elite, often at the same time. Commonly presented as the counterpart to Booker T. Washington’s gradual approach to racial equality, Du Bois stance on various issues evolved over the course of his long career as scholar and activist.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Washington and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ideas and work impacted in the fight for equality. In Booker T. Washington's case, he affects the short term fight. Although education is very important the majority of his community would be fed up with the racism that they would just give up. African Americans wanted to be equal in America. However, Washington's idea benefited and accommodated more of the Caucasian community than his own race. While W.E.B Du Bois affected the long term fight. he encouraged people to fight for their rights and stand up for themselves. Civil right moment evolving is what led to the end of segregation because many carried out the work after W.E.B Du…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    39. Double Consciousness Du Bois...how you perceive yourself and how other perceive yourself is at odds…the Black experience in America is to constantly bridge and try to marry those two different…

    • 1364 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B DuBois is a book that includes various the issues that many black people have faced during the Twentieth Century through his own personal essays. Each chapter contains a different issue that black people have faced and how they feel behind the imaginary “veil” that has been placed upon African Americans. This veil represents the imaginary line between the lives of white and black people. Black people can see and understand everything around them while the others, white people, cannot see and understand black people because they are behind the veil. The book mainly focuses on the aspects on how black people truly view life behind the veil hence the title The Souls of Black Folk.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Washington vs DuBois

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    On January 1, 1863, the United States’ Negro population was proclaimed “henceforth and forever free” according to President Abraham Lincoln’s establishment of the Emancipation Proclamation. However, years after its release, the Negro population was still mistreated. After the Civil War, white southerners were relentless in establishing themselves as the superior race. The newly implemented Black Codes restricted African Americans' of their new freedom and essentially began a new form of slavery. African Americans experienced violent discrimination and devastating poverty daily. In an attempt to diminish this oppression, two great and well respected leaders of the black community, Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois, offered contrasting approaches. Both methods contributed to the movement; however, one was more appropriate for the time period. Overall, Washington’s philosophy of self help and acceptance of discrimination was the better fit.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The depth of the impact that prejudice embarked on his life is the main focal point W.E.B. DuBois establishes in Chapter 1, paragraph 2 of his book The Souls of Black Folk. DuBois magnificently orchestrates an allure for the reader as he opens the paragraph with his earliest memory as a young lad. He reveals a story of how the attitude of one girl planted roots of discrimination deep down in his soul. As DuBois’s boyhood grew into adolescent youth, the feelings of social rejection were nourished with a longing for equal treatment among the white community. Every event blossomed into an opportunity of challenge as he persevered to surpass his white opponents. He relished in self-gratification with every successful achievement. As a mature…

    • 197 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this reading, Shawn Michelle Smith writes about W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk and Du Bois’ photographs. Smith argues that “Du Bois’ photographs challenge a physical, and biological, paradigm of white supremacists racial differentiation.” Throughout the reading Smith compares and contrasts how whites and blacks look at photos, mainly of lynching, and can see two separate things in the same photographs.…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Souls of Black Folk

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The beautiful and profound narrative titled The Souls of Black Folk by W E B Dubois explored and explained the multi-layered problems pertaining to race and identity as they unfolded after the civil war. Thee poignant themes resonated in his writings and stuck out as pivotal and revolutionary. The first one was the notion of a double consciousness as it relates to blacks in a white world. The idea of a veil was a strong metaphor in his writing on this subject. The second theme that was explored was the idea of “negro as a problem”(pg. 17) Lastly but no less important was the idea of education and what it’s implications were for black folk versus white folk.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In chapter three of the Souls of Black Folks, W.E.B. Du Bois argues that although Booker T. Washington has took many stands in opposition of the injustices done to black people, his “Atlanta Compromise” speech has done more to hinder the black community than help it. Washington believed that reconstruction failed because African Americans were offered too much too soon, so he believed that industrial education should be stressed to his pupils rather than intellectual education. In his speech he advocated that they should be starting at the bottom rather than at the top and that if they are patient, basic human rights such as being able to vote may follow some time in the future. Washington asked that black people give up three things: political power, insistence on civil rights and higher education of Negro youth. Du Bois argues against this, saying that, “the way for a people to gain their reasonable rights is not by voluntarily throwing them away and insisting that they do not want them” (Du Bois, pg. 39). I agree with Du bois in this because if people do not stand up for their rights and make it known that they are not going to budge in their pursuit of them, then there will be no proper motivation for their current state to be actively changed. Without this constant insistence, people may never truly realize that “color discrimination is barbarism” (Bu bois, pg. 39). Du Bois states that in the years after Washington made his speech there had occurred “the disfranchisement of the Negro, the legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority of the Negro and the steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro” (Du Bois, pg. 37). Although these occurrences were not directly caused by Washington’s speech, his propaganda was a catalyst for them.…

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the writing of W.E.B DuBois in The Souls of Black Folk, the double life of an African American is uncovered. Dubois’ writing tells his readers that the life of an African American. Throughout most of DuBois childhood he was thrown around, disrespected, and unwanted. Instead of letting his circumstances get the best of him he created a life that would empower him and made the best out of his circumstances. DuBois specifically did this through getting an education because an education is something no one can take away from him; yet, this was not easy because he was African American and during this time white people would do anything in their power to place African Americans below them.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The concepts of “the veil” and “double-consciousness” are interrelated in his The Souls of Black folk. According to him the veil represents first their black skin, then whites difficulty to see them as true Americans and finally their own difficulty to set them outside the norms of the white society.…

    • 50 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Booker T Vs. Du Bois

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois both had their own individual approaches for dealing with Black America’s poverty, discrimination, and segregation problems at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Their opposing strategies both greatly assisted their race through the times of struggle. They fought for the same thing, but had different ways of handling the situation in order to change the country at that time. Although WEB Du Bois’ strategy for immediate integration was a good one, I believe that Booker T Washington’s strategies of gradual integration and focusing on the black race as a whole were more appropriate for the time period of 1877-1915.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    W.E.B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness is intended to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets, and in this particular situation African Americans. In his book, In The Souls Of Black…

    • 2166 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays