W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the greatest civil rights activists and writers of this era. In his story The Souls of Black Folk, which is one of his more famous works, he addressed the experiences of African Americans in America. That is where he writes about how African-Americans experience the world through a veil. This concept helped many understand the pain African Americans felt. What DuBois wrote was very true and addressed the difficulties of being African American then as well as in today’s age, unfortunately. The veil that Dubois was speaking of has multiple meanings. The two I think greatly tie with Chestnutt’s story are that the “veil” he is speaking of, shows the caucasion americans inability to see Black peple as “true” americans.
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A majority of the group only accepts African Americans whose skin is light enough to show their blue veins. The leader of the bleu veins is Mr. Ryder who is one of the most desired men in the area. He is going to propose to a woman names Mrs. Dixon. In his eyes, he thinks he needs to marry her to lighten the race so that the mixed race group of people can integrate into the white society and gain equality. He says that he is not prejudice against blacks with darker complexions but he considers the mixed blood blacks to be unique. The beginning of Chestnutt’s story exemplifies what Dubois wrote. The “elite” African Americans in Chesnutt’s story wanted to be as close to white as possible so that they could assimilate into the white society. This is how many thought during this time and shows that they were not fully socially aware of their African American origins and they did not accept it. This ties into what Dubois wrote because they did not truly see themselves for who they truly were, they thought they have to be loser to white skinned to excel and be accepted. They did not accept that they were black and try to build themselves up, infact they were in a way snobbish becau ethey only accepts lighter skinned people int the group and many others that were darker looked up to them. This shows the veil that is blocking the way African Americans see themselves …show more content…
Ryder accepted his past and decide to recognize the dark-skinned wife of his youth. In my opinion this is him affirming and accepting his past, unlike what they were doing before. I interpreted this as the moment African Americans began to accept and identify with their race. This was when the story shifted and shows us that the veil was eventually removed by some in a way. The fact that Mr. Ryder, and many others, decided to recognize their true black identity displays they made the decision to become socially aware. Mr. Ryder knew that exposing his past could be a problem and potentially hurt him or his reputation. He still chose to accept and expose it. He became socially aware of who he really was and stopped seeing the world through the veil. We see Mr. Ryder admit the truth to everyone. Unfortunately we do not know if Mr. Ryder married the wife of his youth. We do not know the outcome of the story so we do not know if Mr. Ryder truly accepts his black
A majority of the group only accepts African Americans whose skin is light enough to show their blue veins. The leader of the bleu veins is Mr. Ryder who is one of the most desired men in the area. He is going to propose to a woman names Mrs. Dixon. In his eyes, he thinks he needs to marry her to lighten the race so that the mixed race group of people can integrate into the white society and gain equality. He says that he is not prejudice against blacks with darker complexions but he considers the mixed blood blacks to be unique. The beginning of Chestnutt’s story exemplifies what Dubois wrote. The “elite” African Americans in Chesnutt’s story wanted to be as close to white as possible so that they could assimilate into the white society. This is how many thought during this time and shows that they were not fully socially aware of their African American origins and they did not accept it. This ties into what Dubois wrote because they did not truly see themselves for who they truly were, they thought they have to be loser to white skinned to excel and be accepted. They did not accept that they were black and try to build themselves up, infact they were in a way snobbish becau ethey only accepts lighter skinned people int the group and many others that were darker looked up to them. This shows the veil that is blocking the way African Americans see themselves …show more content…
Ryder accepted his past and decide to recognize the dark-skinned wife of his youth. In my opinion this is him affirming and accepting his past, unlike what they were doing before. I interpreted this as the moment African Americans began to accept and identify with their race. This was when the story shifted and shows us that the veil was eventually removed by some in a way. The fact that Mr. Ryder, and many others, decided to recognize their true black identity displays they made the decision to become socially aware. Mr. Ryder knew that exposing his past could be a problem and potentially hurt him or his reputation. He still chose to accept and expose it. He became socially aware of who he really was and stopped seeing the world through the veil. We see Mr. Ryder admit the truth to everyone. Unfortunately we do not know if Mr. Ryder married the wife of his youth. We do not know the outcome of the story so we do not know if Mr. Ryder truly accepts his black