American citizens have been facing social challenges for generations. Particularly, the issue of race has been and remains one of the most contentious. Due to its controversial nature, the subject of race collects a tremendous amount of research. Specifically, W.E.B. Du Bois was crucial in the research for the African American community. The ideas that Du Bois presents in his work “The Souls of Black Folk,” play a significant role in today’s social conflicts between black and white people. Du Bois’s work dives into the inner workings of the relationship between the Afro-American culture and white America.
Throughout his work he presents two ideas, “double consciousness” and “the veil,” which encompass the archetypal black experience in America. …show more content…
Even to this day the African Negro is being judged based on skin color and his or her mannerisms. For instance, the current “Black Lives Matter” movement showcases the continuous injustice that is bringing down the black community’s perception of themselves. Black individuals believe they have to censor the way they behave or look to protect their lives. With the unjust murders of black lives occurring in the millennial generation, hundreds of years after the end of slavery, the African American community continues to face a great deal of oppression against their people. Even though “Negro suffrage ended a civil war,” it gave rise to the “beginning [of a] race feud.” Therefore, while black individuals are physically free, they are still slaves to the unwarranted standards and paradigms of white …show more content…
At a young age, Du Bois realized that he was seen as “a problem” in the eyes of the white community just because the color of his skin was different than what white people deemed to be acceptable. He tried to understand why God made him “an outcast and a stranger in [his] own house.” In succession, Du Bois faced rejection of equality from a white individual while at the same time questioning his self-worth according to the standards of white America. Du Bois’s concept of the veil can be compared to Alicia Keys recent decision to no longer wear makeup. She made this decision in order to express her true self and to feel powerful again. Just as Keys was thrown into the world of entertainment where people judgment and bias thrived , the African American community was constantly under the disparaging eye of white America. Alicia Keys developed her own sense of Du Bois’s veil because she developed into a chameleon, “never fully being who [she] was, but constantly changing so all the ‘they’s’ would accept
Throughout his work he presents two ideas, “double consciousness” and “the veil,” which encompass the archetypal black experience in America. …show more content…
Even to this day the African Negro is being judged based on skin color and his or her mannerisms. For instance, the current “Black Lives Matter” movement showcases the continuous injustice that is bringing down the black community’s perception of themselves. Black individuals believe they have to censor the way they behave or look to protect their lives. With the unjust murders of black lives occurring in the millennial generation, hundreds of years after the end of slavery, the African American community continues to face a great deal of oppression against their people. Even though “Negro suffrage ended a civil war,” it gave rise to the “beginning [of a] race feud.” Therefore, while black individuals are physically free, they are still slaves to the unwarranted standards and paradigms of white …show more content…
At a young age, Du Bois realized that he was seen as “a problem” in the eyes of the white community just because the color of his skin was different than what white people deemed to be acceptable. He tried to understand why God made him “an outcast and a stranger in [his] own house.” In succession, Du Bois faced rejection of equality from a white individual while at the same time questioning his self-worth according to the standards of white America. Du Bois’s concept of the veil can be compared to Alicia Keys recent decision to no longer wear makeup. She made this decision in order to express her true self and to feel powerful again. Just as Keys was thrown into the world of entertainment where people judgment and bias thrived , the African American community was constantly under the disparaging eye of white America. Alicia Keys developed her own sense of Du Bois’s veil because she developed into a chameleon, “never fully being who [she] was, but constantly changing so all the ‘they’s’ would accept