In his important work The Souls of Black
Folk (1903), W. E. B. Du Bois discusses a number of causes of racial problems
in America, including the following:
- Lack of
mutual cultural borrowing between the white and black races, particularly in the United
States. Thus the book offers brief musical quotations, usually from black spirituals, at
the beginning of each chapter and sets them side-by-side with excerpts from notable
European and American poets. - The manifestation of racial
prejudice (of whites against black) even in young
childhood. - A variety of different kinds of separation
between whites and blacks. - A problem he refers to as
“double consciousness,” in which African Americans see themselves as they are perceived
by whites. Du Bois explains this kind of divided mind be referring to a
sense of always looking at one’s self through the
eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused
contempt and
pity.
- The
difficulty, in America, of an African American trying to be both African
and American without losing the best aspects of both
cultures. - The unfortunate and lingering effects of the
period of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War. Reconstruction, he believed, was
often badly implemented and had sown conflict between the
races. - The unfortunate influence of Booker T.
Washington’s emphasis on practical education for African Americans
rather than emphasizing the broadest possible educational
attainments. - The general absence of a broadly educated
African-American population. - The general dependence of
black folk on agriculture as a way of making a
living. - The widespread inability of African Americans to
participate genuinely in the political process by
voting. - A split within the black community between
radicals and compromisers.
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