The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois Essay

W.E.B. Dubois The great African American intellectual W.E.B. Dubois was born in the post-Civil War era. Being born at this time encouraged him to fight for equal rights for blacks. At this time, blacks were still suppressed very greatly. Dubois, having had lived in an all black community, experienced racism first-hand in the North (Donalson, 558).

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, both early advocates of the civil rights movement, offered solutions to the discrimination experienced by black men and women in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Despite having that in common, the two men had polar approaches to that goal. Washington, a man condoning economic efficiency had a more gradual approach as opposed to Du Bois, whose course involved immediate and total equality both politically and economically. For the time period, Washington overall offers a more effective and appropriate proposition for the time whereas Du Bois's approach is precedent to movements in the future. Both have equal influence over African Americans in politics. Washington's proposal excels in reference

Du Bois and Washington's approaches towards the role of the Black Man in the South differed significantly. Du Bois believes that the role of the black man in the South was to archive higher education and gain as stated in The Negro Problem, "intelligence, board sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is, and of the relation of men to it". Du Bois furthermore believed that an African American should achieve greater education through college to become one the Talented Tenth that will lead African Americans to equality. Unlike Washington who believes that, the role of the black man in the South was to learn a trade skill that could be used to contribute to the economy. He also stated in The Atlanta Compromise Speech that, "we began at the top instead of the bottom" (Document 7) referring to the

Although Du Bois new that jobs and education were a good thing he didn’t feel like it was enough and he made sure to voice that. Du Bois believed that, African Americans rights and self-worth was more important and education would come with their rights, which is completely right. Du Bois plan was to fight for political power first, that way there is African Americans in office to let the African Americans voices be heard and let them have some say in the decisions being made about them. Once they received political power they then would fight for civil rights because once they received political power it would be harder for them to deprive African Americans of their rights when there is an African American in office with higher power. Du Bois then felt that once the political power and civil right were received then the fight for higher education for the African American youth would be the next battle. Once you have rights and political power to make decisions he felt higher education could be received and never taken from them again. Du Bois plan was problematic but

DuBois’ double-consciousness is quite simply the twoness of American Negroes. It is this sense of “always looking at one’s self through the

W.E.B. Du Bois writes a collection of essays on race, preferably the African American race, entitled The Souls of Black Folks. In the forethought, Du Bois lets the reader know gather together an introduction of the rest of the book. He introduces you to his concept of “the veil” Drawing from his own personal experiences, Du Bois develops a remarkable book on how the world is divided by a color line. The divide being between white and privileged, and black and controlled. I will attempt to break down the thought process of Du Bois during the entirety of this synopsis of chapters 1, 3, and 6.

The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to

First, one could look at the contention of civil rights. Du Bois feels that Washington wants African Americans to give up their civil rights and he does not agree with this at all. Washington feels that African Americans should be friends with the same people that oppressed them. Washington says, “In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” (573). One can see that Washington feels

3.) According to DuBois, “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Using several representative examples, consider how American writers (of any color) since the Civil War have addressed this problem.

Furthermore, Du Bois disagreed with Booker T. Washington’ submission to the domination of the whites. In other words, Booker T. Washington accepted the fact that whites could control all African Americans and the economy as long as blacks could have jobs, and get a decent education. According to Leff (2000), the whites favored Booker T. Washington because he agreed to the denial of African American rights to have any power in the political institution. On the other hand, Dubois critiqued Booker T. Washington’s point of view, and he wanted to fix the problem by operating against Booker T. Washington’s beliefs. Dubois perceived race as a major problem in society, therefore, he would not adhere to

The same year the dissertation was published, Du Bois began to teach Latin, Greek, German, and English at Wilberforce University in Ohio. After teaching for several years, Du Bois conducted an exhaustive study of the social and economic conditions of urban blacks in Philadelphia in 1896 and 1897. The results were published in the Philadelphia Negro (1899). This was the first sociological text on a black community published in the United States.

The August 1897 issue of the Atlantic Monthly introduced Du Bois to a national audience when it published his article "The Striving of the Negro People”. He begins this article with what he calls “the unasked question” he continually encountered: “How does it feel to be a problem?” Meaning: how does it feel to be black in America after the end of the

The Souls of Black Folk broadens the minds of the readers, and gives the reader a deeper understanding into the lives of people of African heritage. W.E.B. Du Bois articulates the true meaning of the problem of the color-line through his vast knowledge of American history and descriptive personal scenarios. Du Bois

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.

He insists on thrift and self-respect, but at the same time counsels a silent submission to civic inferiority such as is bound to sap the manhood of any race in the long run. He advocates 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, 1903). However, to Du Bois, Washington seemed like a complete push over to white rule. As Du Bois states in The Souls of Black Folk, “We have no right to sit silently by while the inevitable seeds are sown for a harvest of disaster to our children, black and white.” Washington believes it was the black mans “duty” to judge the South “discriminately” but they should not “hate or blame” the present generation for things that happened in the past. I stand with Du Bois in that, first, it is the duty of Mr. Washington to speak out about some “horrifying acts” that happened. Which Washington did speak out against some of these acts, like lynching and the violent abuse of African Americans. However, Du Bois also criticizes Washington on his propaganda, which I also dissent because he pushed that the south is “justified” in its attitude toward the negro because