The Souls Of Black Folk By W. E. B. Dubois Analysis

Great Essays
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates both speak of the difficulties of being an African-American in the United States. Both works address the inequalities and hypocrisy of the American Government with its treatment of black people. Although the two authors have slight contrasting upbringings they share similarities in the topic of African American struggle and the journey towards progress. Both authors agree that education is the path to freedom and protection. Coates argues that teaching black people how to be strong, free and independent will prevent destruction of black bodies, Dubois argues that in order for black folk become aware of the veil and become empowered higher education …show more content…
He is a cofounder of the NAACP and one of the many social activists during his time. Dubois was born on the 23 of February 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Dubois was well-educated, he attended Fisk University and earned his Bachelor 's Degree. Dubois proceeded to receive a Ph. D from Harvard University in 1895. After receiving his degrees Dubois began to write social works on racial topics. " The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study(1899), marking the beginning of his expansive writing career. In the study, he coined the phrase "the talented tenth," a term that described the likelihood of one in 10 black men becoming leaders of their race."[1] Many of Dubois ' works gained popularity, Dubois ' success made him one of the most important figures in topics of social commentary and African-American history. "Souls of Black Folk" describes the history of former slaves and the attempt of the United States government to compensate for slavery. Dubois ' focueses on higher education to empower former …show more content…
Born on the 30th of September 1975 in Baltimore Maryland, Coates has written many works on race and its systematic influence."Coates grapples with the rationalizations for slavery and their persistence in twentieth-century policies like Jim Crow and redlining—the practice of denying loans and other financial services to African-Americans."[3] (MacArthur Fellows Program) Coates wrote Between The World And Me in July 2015, this time period is when police brutality began to catch the attention of the millennials. In fact the murder of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York City ,at the hands of New York 's police, influenced Coates to write this book. This work is dedicated to his son, Coates explains to his child how life was for a black man in Baltimore. Coates addresses race and what he calls The Dream, which is the privileged life white people created on the backs of people of color. The concept of The Dream is like The Color Line that Dubois uses in The Souls of Black Folk, the division of being black and American. This book is an autobiography in letter format addressed to his son. Coates main argument revolves around the black body and how it is lost. Coates argument is like Dubois, to prevent the destruction of black bodies, education is

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    D.E.B Dubois and Langston Hughes fight for Racial Equality Protest is a way of doing an act to be heard or acknowledged with something people disagree with. Throughout history many African American protested through literature. D.E.B Dubois and Langston Hughes are African American authors who have famous works that have gotten attention though the work of literature. These two authors have a lot of the same beliefs and has made a big impact of the African American culture.…

    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1909 DuBois was among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). From 1910 to 1934 he served NAACP as…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The threat of someone taking away his body must have been horrific, he had simply been admiring the clothing of some older students in a 7-Eleven when the boy the older student’s were yelling at pulled a gun out. Coates was at the tender age of eleven when this happened, making it one of the turning points of his life, changing him forever. The owner of the gun was affirming Coates order of life; it was a horrific lesson to get a point across to the younger Coates. A black person’s body is always at risk. And it’s sad that despite knowing this, Coates wrote that…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    James B. Stewart essay “The Field and Functions of Black Studies” focus primarily on explaining the mandate of W.E.B. DuBois. The first thing we need to understand is that historically we appear to be repeating history, rather than making new strides in it. The obstacles that African Americans face today are different, however, the results are the same. Black Studies are truly not understood or effectively being taught if you are not attending an HBCU. W.E.B. DuBois (1933) said “…[S]tarting with present conditions and using the facts and the knowledge of the present situation of American Negroes, the Negro university expands toward the possession and the conquest of all knowledge.”…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (McClurg) Du Bois examined the years that followed the Civil War specifically, the Freedmen's Bureau's role in Reconstruction. The Bureau failed due not only to southern opposition but also to mismanagement and courts that were biased. Dubois also examined the successes of the bureau as well. Its most important contribution to progress was the founding of African American schools.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Before one can even be able to mention that Coates’ experience in his memoir related to the black experience in any way, one would need to know what the black experience is. Chapter 4 of the book “What’s Black About It?” , explains that the black experience can vary from person to person depending on age, education level, and even lifestyle. As a person of color, the individual is already forced to have a different experience than that of someone of Caucasian descent. The black experience is filled with components such as enduring racial stereotypes, being the victim of injustices based on skin color, and the…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Or even in society today, Coates must not realize there are white females who marry black men and white men who marry black females. He doesn’t see the good in a white man who stops to help a homeless black man who calls a bridge his home. He must not recognize that black men and women are leaders and have people who follow and support them. Coates doesn’t see the black basketball coach who is respected by twelve teenage white girls. If he does, he has failed to persuade myself, as a reader, that white people are more than a stereotype.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He attended Hampton Institute in Virginia, a school run by whites. His school believed that African Americans needed to build up their character before pursuing an intellectual education. In Washington’s speech given in Atlanta in 1895, he speaks about his philosophies and what…

    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Coates shares his knowledge and prior experience about what the body means. “How do I live free in this black body” (Coates 12) Coates mentions the struggles of being free as African American. How growing up during a time that was not political correct lead to social violence to the people of color. How easy it is for your body to be stolen from you.…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Coates addresses the stereotype of the thug and how society responds to those who fit the stereotype. Black boys cannot be true to themselves around white people in most cases. Black boys have to make sure their appearance is validated by white people in order to be considered safe. Coates gives much needed insight as far the struggles black males go…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In 1911, when W.E.B. DuBois published The Quest of the Silver Fleece, the African American community stood at a critical time in the course of black history. For the first time in America, they were “free.” Looming all around was the Negro question. The whites asked “what to do with the Negro,” while the blacks asked “what shall I become?” These questions are mentioned explicitly and implicitly through DuBois’ novel.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What’s more, narrative writing style provides readers intensive feelings of inequitable instances happen around Coates and within black society. Until today, African Americans still need to struggle for their rights, freedom, and equality. This belief is hidden in the book Between the World and Me through a father’s intimation to not only his son, but also all the black young…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Double-Consciousness Essay W.E.B. Du Bois, a prominent African-American scholar in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wrote many significant essays that challenged the dangerous societal view that black Americans weren’t capable of progress. In one of those essays, Strivings of the Negro People, he develops new terminology to discuss the many forces that act upon black Americans in a white dominated society, the most important of which is double-consciousness. The phrase, “double-consciousness”, refers to the division of the African-American self into two, conflicting facets: one being the American and the other the Negro, ever being forced to look at themselves through the eyes of a racist society. In Du Bois’ essay, Strivings of the…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Coates also tells his son: “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body it is heritage.” Coates calls to attention how the black body or in simpler terms the African American has been taken physically, spiritually, mentally and every other aspect that makes one human. He talks about how "At the onset of the civil war, our stolen bodies were worth four billion dollars, more than all of the American industry, all of the American railroads, workshops and factories combined, and the prime product rendered by our stolen bodies – cotton – was America’s primary export. " We were used are lively hood and freedom stolen to help create this great country we call America. Coates also talks about how although we tried to pretend as if the civil war was more than just about slavery many of us know the real reality "Here is the motive for the great war.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Coates’ Argument about Black Identity in History “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is heritage” (103). The novel, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a book that capitalizes on the identity black males but also the lives of all black Americans. Coates uses this book to describe his journey and concern for his son growing up in America.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays