The opening chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois essay is “Of our spiritual striving” he starts off by telling the reader that many white Americans tend to ask Black Americans question indirectly. They would beat around the bush instead of asking the question that they really want to ask which is “What does it feel like to be a problem?” Throughout the remainder of his essays on black people he answers this question in the view that white Americans see Black Americans. The Souls of Black folk is a well written piece that had a major impact on me as an African American. Throughout Du bois’ piece he speaks about the concept of the veil. He brings up this term many times. He mentions in chapter one the veil separates him from the opportunity for mainstream society being the white people of the world. I believe that this veil also shows the ignorance of white Americans towards the problems that African Americans go through. This veil doesn’t allow African Americans to become who and what they want to be in the American society. He speaks on about how this world makes the negro to believe that they are unequal to the white people because they only could see themselves the way that white America wants them to; which is that they are better than the negro. Page 38 he explains this exactly by saying “Born with a veil... A world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets himself through the revelation of the other world.” Another concept that is displayed throughout Du Bois is the concept of Double-Consciousness. He explains this concept on pages 38 and 39. In his eyes he sees double-conscious as viewing yourself in the eyes of others; it is also the struggle to be yourself. Page 38 he gives up his view of double consciousness by saying “This double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of other, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” Then he moves on to page 39 and says “He simply wished to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and and American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.” From what I understood from both of these quotes by Du Bois he was trying to explain to us is that African Americans have two personalities to who they really are. He breaks it down to say that at times African Americans could be hard working and fight until they can get to where they know that they should be but then there are also times that they give up and feel that they could never reach the place where white Americans are which is enjoying life. The double-consciousness was so that Black Americans can allow themselves to see what is behind the veil. He is saying that African Americans should have the sense of double-consciousness and view themselves the way that others see them as well as the way that they see themselves. Education is the most important theme in the book. W.E.B. Du Bois is a well educated man who received an education. Throughout his book he shows just how educated he is. He tells us that Black Americans can also get the same education that he did and make something of themselves in life. He explains that education would “provide a common ground” between black and whites. The theme of education more importantly African-American education is mentioned many times. On page 92 he states “The Negro colleges, hurriedly founded, were inadequately equipped, illogically distributed, and of varying efficiently and grade; the normal and high schools were doing little more than common-school work, and the common schools were training but a third of the children who ought to be in them, and training these too often poorly.” Du bios continues to speak on the importance of education. In the book he uses a lot of philosophy and he even talks about religion and Greek mythology. The way that he wrote this piece not only shows how educated he is and how education can take you far in life it also shows that blacks are capable of being on the same levels as whites. In chapter 3 titles Of Mr. Booker T Washington, Du Bois introduces Mr. Washington as well as some of his ideas. Du bios later began to criticize Washington and speak about why his tactics do not work for the African-Americas. Washington believes that African American should go to school and receive a practical and vocational education in fields such as carpentry, brick making and agriculture. While Du Bios believed that African-Americans should receive a liberal education because he believed if they received a general knowledge of things. Liberal arts consist of philosophy, arts, literature, math, and sciences. Du Bois makes the argument again Washington that not every African-American will be interesting in doing hard labor they would only be in it for the money. He also believes that the emphasis on money would stunt the race. Du Bois mentions the triple paradox of Washington’s career the first is that he is “striving nobly to make Negro artisans business men and property-owner; but it is utterly impossible, under modern competitive methods, for workingmen and property-owners to defend their rights and exist without the right to suffrage”. The second is “he insists on thrift and self-respect, but at the same time counsels a silent submission to civic inferiority such as bound to sap the manhood of any race in the long run.” Lastly he states “He advocated for common-school and industrial training, and depreciates institutions of higher learning; but neither the Negro common-schools, nor Tuskegee itself, could remain open a day were it not for teachers trained in Negro colleges, or trained by their graduates.” Du Bois admits that he doesn’t believe in thoughts about the advancement of Black Americans. Du Bois brought up the idea of the “Talented Tenth”, because he didn’t believe that every black American could receive a traditional education only the talented tenth would be able to. After they received this traditional education the believed that they should go out and spread their education and culture with the African-American population. Just as W. E.B. Du Bois said in the end of chapter 2 “Three centuries’ thought had been the raising and unveiling of the bowed human heart. And now behold a century new for the duty and the deed. The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem if the color-line.” I believe that the problem of the Twenty-first Century is the color-line. I believe this because in this day and age maybe blacks as well as whites don’t want to speak on the issue of race. For whites is because they don’t quite understand the struggles or things that the blacks go through and for blacks most of them are still angry about things that happened in the past and rather not speak about it to another white person because they feel that they don’t understand. Reality is that many blacks don’t even understand their history, struggles and accomplishments. On page 120 he speaks about marriage in the black community and the social problems that blacks are going through. To summarize what he says he is saying that black men are taking longer to marry black woman men would either get married in their 20’s and females in their 30’s. He mentions that this isn’t good for the society because it leading to more sexual immorality. “The form of this immorality however, is very seldom that of prostitution and less frequently that illegitimacy than one would imagine,” says Du Bois. With fewer marriages but more children at a young age this makes things much more difficult to get an education, and it makes it seem like the black community is uneducated. The another things that separates us from the whites, not to say that all of them who have children are married but it is not as many that are in the African-American population.There are so many things that Blacks and Whites rather not talk about together that is separates them from one another. Race is issue that many prefer not to speak about because it is personal and emotional for many.
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