Analysis Of Du Bios 'Veil'

The “new” negro no longer embodied “old” characteristics that defined a black man. Society had always taught a black man how to act; however, now he was adapting to the world. Locke declared that ‘the Old Negro’ had long become more of a myth than a man” (Locke, 1). A furthered and detailed definition of an “Old Negro” was that he “was a creature of moral debating historical controversy” (Locke, 1). The four

This is a letter from African-American civil rights activist, W.E.B. Du Bois, explaining what the Talented Tenth is and their goal.

Dubois’ theory of the Talented Tenth suggested that 1 out of every 10 black men had the ability to become leaders in their community through simply educating themselves. By educating themselves, this “talented tenth” would be able to write books and theses that could directly promote social and political change within America’s government. This philosophy posed an issue because Dubois did not recognize that this “talented tenth” did not necessarily exist in early 20th century. Dubois was fortunate enough to attend Harvard, unlike his brethren who did not have the opportunity or funds to do so. This alone lowered the percentage of the capable “talented tenth” to beneath 1% meaning this plan would apply to virtually apply to none of the black population at the

Frederick Douglass was very fortunate to have learned how to read. In his time if you were a slave and had no education you couldn’t escape to freedom. Frederick Douglass’s key to education was his mistress (155). At first she was very nice and was giving him the education he needed and wanted but then from the influence of her husband she became rotten and denied him the right to his education “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband no, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else” (155). But then he was fortunate enough to get some boys around where he lived to continue teaching him “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these I could I could, I converted into teachers,

Everyone has a contribution in this world to make, even African Americans. DuBois continually stressed this to his fellow black community in his book The Souls of Black Folk. What they learn in schools will help the students determine what they will do further in life. If they choose to be the “talented ten” and choose academics, the black world will need them. African Americans need other African Americans to fill all occupations that a white man would. “Who

Education was not readily available for Southern blacks as it was for whites, and Du Bois took notice. In an effort to teach, he was taken aback by “how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn.” (Du Bois, 12) While most African Americans devoted themselves to learning, the information was not presented in an understandable way, and most struggled to even make an advance in basic courses. Du Bois commented that education was a freedom denied to none, and the aggressive pursuit of a higher education was the way of crossing the threshold into equality. In a similar matter, Booker T. Washington praised the school house as a place with equal deliverance as heaven itself. His point of view came through the looking-glass of slavery, being raised a slave himself. As a child, when he carried his mistress’ books to her schoolhouse, he felt that “to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”(Washington, 3) Washington,

Du Bois relates his experiences as a schoolteacher in rural Tennessee, and then he turns his attention to a critique of American materialism in the rising city of Atlanta where the single-minded attention to gaining wealth threatens to replace all other considerations. In terms of education, African Americans should not be taught merely to earn money. Rather, Du Bois argues there should be a balance between the "standards of lower training" and the "standards of human culture and lofty ideals of life." In effect, the African American college should train the "Talented Tenth" who can in turn contribute to lower education and also act as liaisons in improving race relations.

The turn-of-the-century W.E.B Du Bois wrote his seminal text The Souls of Black Folk in response to what was then called the 'Negro Problem.' The 'Negro Problem' was the question of whether African-Americans should be treated as equal within the firmament of American society and whether integration or separate but equal were more viable doctrines. Du Bois wrote against such advocates of acceptance like Booker T. Washington, and instead demanded parity for his people in terms of opportunities. In the first essay of Du Bois' book entitled "Our Spiritual Strivings," Du Bois writes of his frustrations as a young, African-American child who was intelligent and thoughtful yet all too well aware of how his race would limit his ability to pursue his studies although he

Between 1890 and 1906, Black people were rejected from the area of politics, as southern states amended their constitutions to deny Black American citizens their voting rights that had been ratified by the Fifteenth Amendment. The beliefs of racial uplift, was an idea that placed responsibility on educated Black people for the well-being of the majority of their race. This was a reaction to the assault on African American civil and political rights, also known as “the Negro problem (Washington 8).” During this era, there were opportunities for Black people to become leaders of Black communities everywhere. African American leaders combated stereotypes by highlighting class differences among Blacks that believed in the stereotypes themselves. In 1903, W. E. B. Du Bois published the book, The Souls of Black Folk. He criticized "the old attitude of adjustment and submission" that had been expressed by Booker T. Washington in the Atlanta Compromise Address (Hill 734). Washington addressed that Southern Black people should work and submit to White political rule, while Southern White people guaranteed Black people the reception of basic educational and economic opportunities. Du Bois believed that full civil rights and increased political representation, would uplift the Black community during this time. African Americans needed the opportunities for advanced education to develop this sore of leadership, titled the “Talented Tenth”, an African-American intellectual elite

Du Bois contributed to Sociological Theory in several other works published, specifically The Philadelphia Negro. This work was one of the earliest sociological studies to analyze urban life and African Americans. He analyzed various issues in living conditions, education, work life, etc. of the black population living in Philadelphia, something never done before (Du Bois & Eaton, 1976). The goal of his work was to get to the root of the mass amount of difficulties that plagued African Americans in urban areas and pose solutions to improve their standing. From the study, he coined the term the Talented Tenth. The Talented Tenth was described as a need for the most educated and successful of African Americans to gain as much knowledge

W.E.B. Du Bois is considered one of the top five people of the twentieth century. He is an intellectual, who is admired by both his supporters and adversaries. Du Bois, in his essay, tells his audience that he is not only a genius among blacks, but he is also a revered scholar of humankind. He is well educated among prestigious universities such as Fisk, Harvard, and Heidelberg, and is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. Mr. Du Bois is not a meager intellectual, whose intelligence is measured by the capacity of his knowledge, but he also uses his knowledge to fight for the equality of his people. Among the different identities of Du Bois, he is also the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a reader, one interprets that Du Bois' essay is an authentic narration of the life of African Americans. Du Bois uses context from his point of view as a free man; therefore, his words are less biased than his counterparts. He allows the readers to freely establish their own perspective on the problem of the color people by giving them the chance to see the lives of African Americans before the Civil War through Reconstruction. Du Bois also uses historical references, case studies, and personal storytelling examples to define the problem of the people of African heritage in the United States. The first chapters of The Souls of Black Folk contain historically relevant material,

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.

Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon explores the roles of violence, class, and political organization in the process of decolonization. Within a Marxist framework, Fanon theorizes and prophesizes the successes and failures of independence movements within colonized nations. He exalts the proletariat as a revolutionary class that is first to realize the necessity of violence in the removal of colonial regimes. Yet the accomplishment and disappointments of the proletariat are at the hand of men. Fanon neglects women in terms of the proletariat’s wishes and efforts. In spite of this exclusion, Fanon nonetheless develops a theory that could apply to the proletariat as a whole, women included. For although Fanon failed to acknowledge women’s

Fanon finds himself suffering from schizophrenia and many disorders as a result of the white man’s harsh treatment. When all he wanted was to be himself. To a white man from France, Fanon was a “Martinican, a native of “our” old colonies” (Fanon, 1986, p.113), which was a perception which deprived the black man of self-pride or confidence in himself.

Education is one of the most essential necessities of a personal life because without education, we would not have a brighter future. In two essays “Learning to Read and Write” and “A Homemade Education”, Malcolm and Douglass describe what they have gone through in order to become more successful in their pursuits in life. While Malcolm X lived part of his life in prison, he spent his time writing numerous definitions from a dictionary amongst the walls and tables. The elements of the dictionary motivated him to not only become a free man, but a well educated one at that. Douglass, who also taught himself, began his life in slavery. But after a series of attempts, he escapes from slavery and pursues into his