W. E. B. Dubois Double Consciousness Analysis

W.E.B. Du Bois was born in 1868, only a few short years after the 13th Amendment was passed in December of 1865. Du Bois was not born into slavery; however, he did experience discrimination. Even though Du Bois understands that there was a veil when he was young, he wasn’t made aware of how prevalent the “veil” and “double consciousness” were among his race until he traveled South to attend Fisk University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. From the Souls of Black Folks is a collection of essays written by W.E.B. Du Bois to address the struggles that the black race faced in years after the Civil War. Even though slavery was abolished by the time Du Bois was born, the idea of “double consciousness”, along with something he described as “the veil” remained a present factor in the everyday life of African Americans. The overall theme of From
The idea of double consciousness is another phrase meaning “separation of the races” because it is the awareness of the Negro identity being different from the American identity. The realization of the two different identities can also be referred to as “twoness.” “One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” (Du Bois 536). The metaphor of the veil is a strong representation of the separation that was very present in years after the Civil War, and of the separation that remains today. Du Bois describes double consciousness with the word twoness. Du Bois then says “An American, a Negro” (Du Bois 536) not just Americans. The separation that takes place is felt by everyone, white or black, young or old, male or female. Du Bois helps bring attention to how wrong the separation of black and white is by using metaphors and ideas created from his own experiences to write a powerful collection of