When reading W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk I was intrigued how he writes like it’s a story. Right off the bat he starts talking about two different worlds, the one he is in and the one everyone else is in. I am assuming he means a black world and a white world.
He mentions that people masked the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?” That people mask the question when it is posed, yet when it is directly spoken, the only thing you can say is nothing. Du Bois goes on to talk about how when you have only known “being the problem” what can you say. He goes into explaining that as a little boy he didn’t realize he was different until a little white girl refused his visiting card. After that he didn’t see a reason to rise above this “vast veil”. While he was beating his mates, others were getting the prizes and he realized he could read law or heal the sick and that’d show them. Yet he basically watched other black boys let their differences get to them and he and they ended up in prison.
Du Bois then goes on to talk about the well known term “double consciousness”. He defines this term as the black man being second in America and only sees himself through the eyes of which others in America see them. No true self consciousness. The world looks at him/them in amused contempt and pity. He says that there is always going to be a feeling of “twoness”.
Du Bois starts to talk about the history of a Negro American. He says that the history of a Negro American is the constant strife or fight between his own self consciousness and merging into a better person. All he wishes is that it was possible to be Black & American. It’s kind of like what is said in class, “What is more important to you, being American, being Black, being female?”
Du Bois then gets into the point about the Negro’s power. In history black man’s powers have been forgotten. Even after Emancipation the lack man hesitates which makes him appear weak. When really it’s what Du Bois calls “contradiction of double aims”. According to him, this is what creates the poor craftsman.
The only other thing I really got out of the chapter was about freedom. He says that “few men ever worshipped Freedom with half such unquestioning faith as did the American Negro for two centuries.” Basically saying that what the black man sees as freedom and what the white man sees as freedom are completely different.
Finally, he talks about prejudice. He defines prejudice as what sociologist explain it as, “the natural defense of culture against barbarism, leaning against ignorance,, purity against crimes, the ‘higher’ against the ‘lower’ races.” Du Bois mentions that this leads to the lowering of ideals and repression, contempt, and hate.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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3 comments:
I think that this chapter can be summed up in the word freedom. The initial response to chapter 25 touched upon what it means to white people to be free and what it means to black people to be free. Du Bois say’s that it’s something entirely different and I agree. The whole chapter talks about the differences between the world of whites and the worlds of blacks. I didn’t understand what the double consciousness meant until I read the initial response. But, taking from the first response, I now understand it to be the struggle between what a black man thinks he is and what society thinks he is. Du bois writes “the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world” and then compares it to societies view that was “Be content to be servants, and nothing more; what need of higher culture for halfmen?” On one hand black men see themselves as gifted and of worth, most people hopefully see themselves containing some worth, but then society comes along and calls them “halfmen”. There is a great amount of difference between the two views and I think that is what Du Bois is trying to illustrate. As for the parts of the chapter that talk about the history of the black man, I think that Du Boise is just showing that they are in a constant struggle to try to define themselves as one person. First they think it is the right to vote that will even the playing field, when that proves to be wrong they turn towards education in hopes that if they become more educated than they will be equal to their white peers. Sadly Du Bois shows that neither of the two tries helps the black man and that white society finds a way to keep them down, bringing in the idea of poor craftsmen. The chapter was about the idea of freedom and worth (or so I think) and how both can mean entirely different things depending on your race, or your struggle to obtain both.
I kknow my comment is late, however I think DuBois makes an excellent point, IT IS VERY DIFFERENT TO BE BLACK IN AMERICA. If one is black in America, there will always be the question "How can I be accepted in society?" It seems that no matter what a black person does they will never have the same privilege as someoone white, even if they do have the same things, (education, money, etc) DuBois points out that African Americans always have to see themselves through the eyes of someone else. For instance, a basic stereotype of African Americans is that they are inferior, and hostile. Next thing you know, CMU Life got an African American picture, name, and everything else about that person that will further that stereotype. I mean really, from other readings that I read on DuBois, he said the problem for the 20th century will be the "color line" and unfortunately he was right. and its so funny that not all but some white people think they know what its like to be black because they listen to hiphop, or go to Detroit (tiger's game) WHATEVER!!!!! DuBois makes it clear that you will never know what it truly means to black (if white) just like one will never know what it truly means to white (if black) in society.
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