Du Bois Concept Of The Veil: An Analysis

Improved Essays
Considering the recent presidential election, the idea of changing one’s hair to fit the paradigms of society coincides with Muslim women’s struggle with wearing their hijabs in the modern world. Similar to Harris-Perry’s idea that stereotyping makes black women conform to the “crooked room,” the fear of being shipped away has women, Muslim Americans questioning whether they should continue wearing their hijabs. Both, the black women in Harris-Perry’s book and Islamic women are perpetually in a state of hesitance to display their outer appearances in fear of being ridiculed by white America. While she wrote this work before the election, many of her ideas are still prevalent within the confines of the modern world. Analogously, whereas Du Bois’ concepts were created decades before the 2016 presidential election, they are still a crucial part in African Americans’ struggle with identity.
Du Bois’ concept of the veil can be compared to Alicia Keys recent decision to no longer wear makeup or change her hair. She made this decision to express her true self and to feel powerful again. Just as Keys was thrown into the world of entertainment where people’s
…show more content…
Moreover, the struggle of black identity did not stop with the abolition of slavery. Du Bois’ ideas of double consciousness and the veil showcased how deeply rooted the loss of identity within the African American community is. Although his concepts were crafted long before the current millennial generation, they continue to shape how Americans of color experience the struggle of identity through the injustices of racism. A few of the numerous influential people such as, Eric Garner, Bessie Smith, and Alicia Keys, constantly keep afloat the awareness of black identity struggle so that black America continues to overcome the stereotypes produced by the white

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    D.E.B Dubois argued that because of the laws and the society that are set for blacks prevents blacks from achieving equality which is known as the color line. The color line represents that because of blacks identify stops blacks from opportunity. An example of this is if you’re a black kid they wouldn’t receive the same education has a white kid. Which means that its stopping blacks from getting a better opportunity in life. The veil represents that because of racism whites find it hard to consider blacks as true Americans.…

    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Du Bois argues that since blacks have been discriminated against in the United States that they have a clear vision of what a beautiful world would truly look like (Du Bois 772). Du Bois refuses to separate beauty from truth and the reality of the world. Du Bois believes that beauty should work toward the advancement of African Americans and that beauty should be used…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of The Veil

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Veil and its Horrors The Veil created many terrifying effects in the past years, especially on African Americans such as discrimination. African Americans feared the Veil as it damaged their family and segregated them from others. Du Bois felt the Veil separated Africans Americans and whites primarily hurting African Americans. As Du Bois grew up he noticed another side to the way people viewed him as a person.…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    "Oh," thought I, "this is lucky", but even then felt the awful shadow of the Veil, for they ate first, then I---alone" (DuBois 50). A veil is a piece of clothing that conceals the face, this relates to the suppression of the African Americans because whites think they understand the day-to-day life of being black or a slave. They think they know what it feels like to live black to black, but they cannot relate in any aspect. He was confronted with the existence of the veil when DuBois had dinner with a white men and he had to wait for…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Critiquing those who label the preservation of African American knowledge and culture as racist, he reiterates his commitment to the struggle for black liberation on the basis of equality, not assimilation that he believes would jeopardize the survival of African Americans—their cultural and historical forms of expression, and their distinct physical African features. Du Bois is concerned that the race would commit “racial suicide” by working narrowly toward integration and assimilation. The conservation of black traditions also serves as the vital connector to Africa, its newly independent nations and the people that are still struggling for their liberation. Addressing his audience during the “Year of Africa,” Du Bois shifts his focus to…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One work that is difficult is The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois. This work is difficult because the story features an African-American man being the hero. When W.E.B. Du Bois wrote this, white people were always the main characters and heroes in stories. For example, in The Comet, “She stared at him. Of all the sorts of men she had pictured as coming to her rescue she had not dreamed of one like him” (McMichael 1111-1112).…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Du Bois’ twoness builds upon the conflicting duality of African-American self-consciousness. The African-American, wishing neither to Africanize America nor to Americanize his African heritage, meets at once a paralyzing physical barrier and a distorting lens in his stride toward bona fide societal embrace as an amalgam of both cultures. According to Du Bois, the most immediate effect of twoness is its psychological imposition of self-doubt and uncertainty. The predominantly white American environment of the early 20th century conferred upon society its own paradigm of societal assessment.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (McClurg) This book is still one of the most important parts of sociological and African American history. (GradeSaver) In this collection of essays, Du Bois talked about two terms that have developed into theoretical fields of study: “double consciousness” and “the Veil." “Double consciousness" is the belief that the African-American in the United States live with two conflicting identities that cannot be entirely merged together.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This work has made a significant impact on the sociology field today. However, during the time period it was not recognized due to the color of his skin. Bois describes through his essay two terms double consciousness and the veil. He uses the term double consciousness to illustrate the idea to the readers African Americans live with two identities which conflict with one another. Leaving them to feel as if they are living a double life.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “White feminism” is a term that has become a hot topic in recent years. In the article “Shit White Feminists Need To Stop Doing” by Anne Theriault describes white feminism as feminist women who are cisgender and white only fighting for issues that directly affect their lives, while ignoring issues that affect women of color, LGBT women, and disabled women. Theriault claims at the beginning of her article that she is a feminist herself, yet effectively insults and oppresses other women throughout her article. Anne Theriault wrote a biased article filled with opinions and no facts showing that white, feminist women are less than anyone else.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, refused my card-refused it peremptorily, with a glance. Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil” (Du Bois 2015, [67]). In this anecdote Du Bois is describing the first time he felt the presence of the veil, of the mental color line, that separates whites from blacks. White Americans cannot see inside the veil, they cannot understand the oppression and adversity to which African-Americans were subjected. Of course, Jim Crow laws and the segregation that they entailed served only to reinforce the veil.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The community members notice the separation the black veil created between Reverend Mr. Hooper and themselves. They do not understand why he would wear a black veil to preach and what lesson might he be trying to…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Double-Consciousness The concept of “Double-Consciousness” is typically known for being a common experience among the black community in America. When broken down, double-consciousness can be explained as the feeling of one’s identity, but split into different parts, instead of one whole identity. Dubois’ explanation of this concept is “One ever feels his two-ness,--an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” (The Souls of Black Folk).…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout much of African American literature there is a perpetual underlying theme; double consciousness. As if one were a comic book character with an alter ego, one has to put on a facade in order to be regarded as acceptable, civil, and not threatening. It is a concept among early African American literary people that explains a inner "twoness" and never having an individual unified identity because of this. It is thought to be expressed because of the oppression and disvaluement of blacks in a white dominated society. Du Bois explains that because of this, it is hard for blacks to be able to relate to having a black identity and having a American identity.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays