Double Consciousness Dubois

In the analysis of the abundance of wonderful leaders who made a difference in the African American community since emancipation, W.E.B Du Bois made a special impact to advance the world. From founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to his influential book The Souls of Black Folk, he always found an accurate yet abstract way of verbalizing the strives of African Americans as well as making platforms for them to be known. Although he had less power than most of the bigger named African American leaders of his time, W.E.B Dubois’ overweighing strengths verses weaknesses, accurate and creative analogies, leadership style, and the successful foundations he stood for demonstrates his ability to be both realistic and accurate in his assessment since emancipation.

He believed that things would never truly be equal due to the color line, or as he referred to it, “the veil”. Despite American’s efforts to assist slaves in the transition to a free black American citizen, they just did not feel accepted. The Freedmen’s Bureau was set up in hopes that this would ease the transition but it didn’t help. This relates back to “the veil” the Du Bois refers to. The veil represents the African American’s feelings of inequality and inability to mesh with the white American citizens.

During the turn of the century the Jim Crow era, between the years 1895- 1950 there were two prominent black leaders that arose in order to accomplish one goal equal rights for African Americans. Although these two leaders shared different ideas and strategies for dealing with the Jim Crow era. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois dedicated their lives to gain equal rights for African Americans.

Thesis statement: The two great leaders in the black community debating about the issues that face the Negro race and Du Bois gave a compelling argument by using pathos, logos and ethos to create an essay that will appear to all readers.

W.E.B Du Bois and His Impact on Black America W.E.B Dubois was a man who believed and fought for a cause that changed and revolutionized how some people see racism today. Before Du bois started his civil rights activism he was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23, 1868, and in 1884 Du Bois graduated as the valedictorian from his high school class. Soon after he graduated from high school he was accepted into Harvard University in 1888 as a junior and was the first African American to earn a PHD from Harvard University. Shortly after he received a bachelor of arts cum laude in 1890. Later in his life Du Bois began to fight vigorously for lesser status foundations and became an advocate for full and equal rights.

W.E.B DuBois, Civil Rights activist, journalist, and educator, in his book “Black Reconstruction”, he researched the role African Americans played during America’s Reconstruction period. DuBois targets an audience of any open-minded reader that is willing to read about history from the lens of an African American. In the chapter titled “The Propaganda of History”, as the title suggests, DuBois argues that history is intentionally mispresented in order to influence the beliefs of the generations to come. “The Propaganda of History” analysis why the post-Civil War history remains manipulated and how that affects the African American community. One of his main claims is that the history of African Americans is subjective and belittling, that it

The personification of “the Nation” gives more character to the idea of prejudice, removing the idea of an unknowable entity. Rather, it becomes something that the reader can comprehend and even relate to. Lastly, Du Bois makes an appeal to pathos when he says, “[a]way with the black man’s ballot, by force or fraud,—and behold the suicide of a race!” Suicide is obviously a strong word choice, and in using it, Du Bois makes the readers morbidly connect with the African Americans’ plight at an emotional level. It serves to help the reader understand the impact that prejudice has on African Americans and in doing so again increases the persuasiveness of Du Bois’s argument.

Masks hide the truth and obscure the facts. They form a barrier between what is real and what is an illusion. Yet, during from the moment blacks were brought to this continent in chains, to the moment they were granted civil rights in the 1960’s, masks were a method of survival. Another way of life for African Americans was the practice of signifying. Signifying is mostly seen in the black literary tradition as a means for African Americans to take back power from the white through misinformation and deception.

Though both Washington and Du Bios were both born in the same era, it was their differences in background and technique that had the greatest impact on the future. I believe that Booker T. Washington’s views better suited to the historical conditions and attitudes of the times than W.E.B. Du Bios because Washington had first hand experience with slavery,

From 1896 to 1924, America went through a period known as progressivism in which people of all walks of life banded together to oppose conservatism and reform society. Progressives generally believed that government is necessary for change, however; it had to more significantly embody the ideals of democracy. Some of the specific changes that progressives wanted were regulating railroads, a direct election of senators, graduated income tax, limited immigration and eight-hour workdays. By supporting these changes, the progressives hoped to promote and expand democracy and thus give the people more power. One of the goals of the progressives was to address the wealth gap and reduce income inequality by transferring power to the people through

Booker T. Washington was born a slave and worked as a janitor to get through school. Whereas W.E.B. Du Bois was born in the North and faced very little discrimination, and had an easier time getting into College. They were well educated, and the only difference between them was how they were raised in different environments. Both were on the journey to improve African American’s social and political status in America. However, they had different methods for getting what they wanted. Regardless, they were able to aid in ending discrimination and received equal standing in education, labor, acquiring of land, etc.. If it had only been Du Bois fighting for equality, then he would have achieved the fight for equality sooner. On the contrary, Du Bois only provided one view to how African Americans were being treated; Washington had a friendlier approach. This may be due to his fear of being lynched or placing African Americans in a harsher situation than they already were. Washington seemed more methodical—he was thinking about African Americans having the full rights of the 14th and 15th amendments. At the same, he was also concerned about the consequences of his speech, and if it angered the whites more than it relieved the situation they were all facing. Washington and Du Bois had every intention to improve the social and political status of African Americans, but they sought different plans to achieve such goals due to their different upbringings, values, and opinions.

The NAACP’s primary goal during Du Bois’ time was to invalidate the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. He was fond of Booker T. Washington, mentioned earlier, and many of his own views surrounded the concept of double consciousness. Du Bois believed that as a result of Plessy v. Ferguson African Americans began to judge themselves based on white standards, ultimately leading to the internal acceptance of inferiority. He describes the state of double consciousness as, “a peculiar sensation this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others…” (143). In other words, black people have reached a state of double consciousness where they look at themselves in the way that white people look at them.

Whites are privileged because we are seen as the average American. We do not get second glances, because nobody suspects we are doing anything but living our lives. Though since we are not subject to this intense scrutiny we do not realize that we in turn do this to African Americans, just simply living their daily lives as well. McIntosh (1988) points out that she repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject.

DuBois wants to communicate the metaphor of the veil, which is worn by all African Americans because their view of the world and potential opportunities are so different than that of white people. Although DuBois uses both double consciousness and the veil as two separate concepts, their meanings deeply intertwine. He sees the veil as a gift of sorts to African Americans because it provides them with a second sight, which could potentially be a blessing and a curse. Double consciousness makes it hard for African Americans to establish their identity, which was made harder by the negative white American view of

WEB DuBois was a civil rights activist who lived from 1868 to 1963. He was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree and attended college at the University of Berlin and Harvard. He faced opposition from colonial and US authorities because they thought his attributes resembled communism. However, eventually, he went on to be a co-fonder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).