The Bottom of Hardships The book that W.E.B. Du Bois wrote has a very descriptive set of stories that explains some situations of African American history. In the front of this, book he had multiple quotes that he felt were important. The one that stood out the most to me was, “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships” (Du Bois 12). This quote has great depth of meaning to it. It describes what families were going through once they were freed. Many have said the statement “walk a day in my shoes” aimed towards the hardships of their lives. For the African American race, it seems that every member could attest to this as they faced an uphill battle of inequality, prejudice in the
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It began to get worse for some when they were shipped to America. They were pulled from their villages and betrayed. Some had it easy when they got to the other side. For the most part, sadly, a lot didn’t have it so good. Du Bois wrote the book because he cared about what was going on and wanted to show others. Reading this book really bothers some people because of how much cruelty was actually happening. African Americans, experienced strife starting at a young age. For example, when Du Bois was a kid he was exchanging cards at school with other kids and one of the girls refused his card “peremptorily, with a glance” (Du Bois 9). Incite of this event, it lead to thinking in a “double conscious” way (Du Bois 9). He had a conflict of thought because he was always comparing himself to what they white man thought of African Americans. He was always “looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, measuring one’s soul by the type of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (Du Bois 9). It is dangerous to look at one’s life, in this point of view. This can strain on one’s sanity and …show more content…
Washington. He is described as an honorable man because he tried to make life better for the African Americans. Mr. Washington supported a “programme of industrial education” (Du Bois 35). This was meant to teach the African Americans how to be valuable in the world. This Industrial school was much like our technical schools today. It taught them different jobs that were being offered in the Labor force. To follow, the nation was in an uproar that an African American was running such a program. It startled “the nation to hear a Negro advocating such a programme after many decades of bitter complaint” (Du Bois 36). The Nation was “ashamed with having bestowed so much sentiment on Negroes, and was concentrating its energies on Dollars” (Du Bois 35). It seemed that all white Americans could think about was money and themselves. The African Americans were already living poorly in a country of wealth and this is why they were at the bottom of hardships. Du Bois went on to say how he felt the burden of having absolutely nothing and feeling powerless and competing with people who had everything, “ he felt his poverty” (Du Bois
It began to get worse for some when they were shipped to America. They were pulled from their villages and betrayed. Some had it easy when they got to the other side. For the most part, sadly, a lot didn’t have it so good. Du Bois wrote the book because he cared about what was going on and wanted to show others. Reading this book really bothers some people because of how much cruelty was actually happening. African Americans, experienced strife starting at a young age. For example, when Du Bois was a kid he was exchanging cards at school with other kids and one of the girls refused his card “peremptorily, with a glance” (Du Bois 9). Incite of this event, it lead to thinking in a “double conscious” way (Du Bois 9). He had a conflict of thought because he was always comparing himself to what they white man thought of African Americans. He was always “looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, measuring one’s soul by the type of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (Du Bois 9). It is dangerous to look at one’s life, in this point of view. This can strain on one’s sanity and …show more content…
Washington. He is described as an honorable man because he tried to make life better for the African Americans. Mr. Washington supported a “programme of industrial education” (Du Bois 35). This was meant to teach the African Americans how to be valuable in the world. This Industrial school was much like our technical schools today. It taught them different jobs that were being offered in the Labor force. To follow, the nation was in an uproar that an African American was running such a program. It startled “the nation to hear a Negro advocating such a programme after many decades of bitter complaint” (Du Bois 36). The Nation was “ashamed with having bestowed so much sentiment on Negroes, and was concentrating its energies on Dollars” (Du Bois 35). It seemed that all white Americans could think about was money and themselves. The African Americans were already living poorly in a country of wealth and this is why they were at the bottom of hardships. Du Bois went on to say how he felt the burden of having absolutely nothing and feeling powerless and competing with people who had everything, “ he felt his poverty” (Du Bois