Du Bois’s Cry for Civil Rights
Jim Crow. Segregation. Discrimination. These terms centered themselves in W.E.B Du Bois’s life, mind, and soul. With the racism he faced during his life, simple words could not describe his feelings and attitude. Due to the racial injustice, Du Bois expresses himself by using various rhetorical strategies to convey his anger and disappoint in America to his audience, White and Black Americans, during Jim Crow and Segregation.
To connect to white and black Americans, Du Bois prefers to speak directly to his audience by using “you”. For instance, revealing the horrors and unfairness of discrimination, Du Bois casually says “if you wish to ride with me, you must come into the Jim Crow Car” (Du Bois 142). With this, Du Bois actively invites white …show more content…
By manipulating and selecting his words carefully, Du Bois gains the ability to convey a somber tone in chapters like eleven and nine. For example, when Du Bois’s son fell ill and drew closer to death, Du Bois stated “[then] Fear crouched beside the little bed” (Du Bois 229). By capitalizing “fear”, “fear” gains a presence, a shape. It becomes a “thing”, or a creature, that possesses weight and influence. This statement successfully creates a somber tone surrounding the event of Du Bois losing his only son. Du Bois hits another emotional nerve when referring to Georgia’s soil. Calling the clay “crimson soil” references to both the trademark Georgian red clay and the excessive blood split from the Civil War, the war that ultimately freed African Americans from bondage. This realization causes a somber, saddening tone to hang in the air like morning fog on moist, dewy grass. The tone feels heavy on the audience. And while distressing, opening the fresh wounds from the Civil War opens up the conversation involving unresolved racial issues that influence the same discrimination laws Du Bois and other African Americans suffer
Jim Crow. Segregation. Discrimination. These terms centered themselves in W.E.B Du Bois’s life, mind, and soul. With the racism he faced during his life, simple words could not describe his feelings and attitude. Due to the racial injustice, Du Bois expresses himself by using various rhetorical strategies to convey his anger and disappoint in America to his audience, White and Black Americans, during Jim Crow and Segregation.
To connect to white and black Americans, Du Bois prefers to speak directly to his audience by using “you”. For instance, revealing the horrors and unfairness of discrimination, Du Bois casually says “if you wish to ride with me, you must come into the Jim Crow Car” (Du Bois 142). With this, Du Bois actively invites white …show more content…
By manipulating and selecting his words carefully, Du Bois gains the ability to convey a somber tone in chapters like eleven and nine. For example, when Du Bois’s son fell ill and drew closer to death, Du Bois stated “[then] Fear crouched beside the little bed” (Du Bois 229). By capitalizing “fear”, “fear” gains a presence, a shape. It becomes a “thing”, or a creature, that possesses weight and influence. This statement successfully creates a somber tone surrounding the event of Du Bois losing his only son. Du Bois hits another emotional nerve when referring to Georgia’s soil. Calling the clay “crimson soil” references to both the trademark Georgian red clay and the excessive blood split from the Civil War, the war that ultimately freed African Americans from bondage. This realization causes a somber, saddening tone to hang in the air like morning fog on moist, dewy grass. The tone feels heavy on the audience. And while distressing, opening the fresh wounds from the Civil War opens up the conversation involving unresolved racial issues that influence the same discrimination laws Du Bois and other African Americans suffer