Douglass Vs Dubois

Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave offers a depiction of slavery like very few before him, from his firsthand accounts. Douglass wanted to show his opposition to slavery and knew he would meet many criticisms. Due to this criticism, he had to mask much of his work with irony. Some of his works are obvious and others are a bit harder to see. The more difficult ones were put in place by Douglass in order to provide a deep and profound statement, without arousing too much opposition. If he had he would have faced much more threats than he did. He not only

W.E.B. Dubois had a better idea of equality than Frederick Douglass. Both of these civil rights leaders have lived and experienced a remarkable different life. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. His mother was a slave and his father was a slave owner. W.E.B Dubois was born free and his parents were free African Americans. Douglass and Dubois education upbringing was a totally different experience.

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 conflicting two facets: one being the American and the other the Negro, ever being forced to look at themselves through the eyes of a racist society.

Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” can be interpreted as a reverse response of W. E. B. DuBois’ concept of “double consciousness” that he describes in “The Souls of Black Folk.” Hurston shows that not all African Americans experience a sense of double consciousness and that some are instilled with the self confidence required to embrace one’s “blackness.” First, it may be helpful to define consciousness before attempting to explain the notion of double consciousness. Consciousness is defined as the state of being mentally aware of something: oneself, in this essay. Therefore, we can now define double consciousness as the state of an individual being mentally aware of “two selves”: one as you see yourself and the second as

In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B DuBois pioneers two concepts that describe the Black experience in America— the notions of “the veil” and “double-consciousness.” The meaning and implication of these words not only describe the plight of being Black and American then, it also refers to what it means to still be Black and American today – the remnants of the past live on. DuBois explains the veil concept in reference to three things: the literal darker skin of Blacks, which is the physical demarcation of the difference from whiteness, white people’s lack of clarity in order to see Blacks as “true” Americans, and lastly Blacks’ lack of clarity to see themselves outside of what white America prescribes for them. The idea of double consciousness refers to the two-ness, caused by our nations flawed and polarized system, felt by many Blacks. I argue that although DuBois was the first to coin these two terms, it is clear through analyzing Uncle Tom’s Cabin and 12 Years a Slave that these two significant concepts gave a name to what African-Americans had been feeling for years but previously could not define.

The phrase “art imitates life” can be used to describe many works of literature. Authors and the stories they write are often influenced by the changing world around them along with the evolution of new perspectives and ways of thinking regarding a subject. While this may sound simply like a common literary trope, it is of great importance and significance in many genres of literature. None has this been more apparent than in both the anti-slavery and women’s empowerment movement of the early to mid-1800s. Two major influence authors in their respective subjects, Frederick Douglass and Fanny Fern, were heavily influenced by the changing societal trends of the time of which they expressed through their writing. Douglass’s speech in particular “What to a Slave is the 4th of July?” was heavily influenced by Douglass’s own personal experience as a slave as well as the rising prominence of the abolitionist movement in the United States. By referencing the contradictory nature of the Constitution relegating personal freedoms exclusively to white, property owning males, Douglass bluntly references the systematic inequalities faced by people of color in the United States. Never would the works of an African American author, especially one challenging the established institution of slavery, gain so much attention if not for the anti-slavery movement and shifting perspectives surrounding it.

W.E.B DuBois’ and Hegel’s concept of double consciousness implies that individuals, especially black people, look at their own identity from two perspectives: There is the perspective oneself has about one’s own identity and the conscious perspective of them, as black people, are being perceived by others. As a result, slaves failed to meet the set image and goal of white America simply because the image slaves had in their own eyes was predetermined and unaltera-ble. Jacobs’ explained this with the persistent view that the black male are inferior. Compliant to Douglass’ description on how

“You are a product of your environment.”- W. Clement. The way you were raised, the people who raised you and the community that you are raised in all play a role in who you are as an individual. Constantly throughout time the way an individual defines themselves is based on their roots, the actions or reactions that have built a foundation of who they’re today. Through the lens of a slave later turned into one of the largest faces of abolitionist acts, Frederick Douglass creates “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in which he accounts the community he was raised in and the constant fear instilled within his community as well as his later assimilation into new communities and possibly being responsible for creation of a

Writing in the favor of black people has always remained controversial from the very beginning. Critics regard such writing as “a highly conventionalized genre” indicating that “its status as literature was long disputed but the literary merits of its most famous example such as Frederick Douglass 's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass…are widely recognized today.” (Ryan:537) Despite of such severe resistance, writers like Douglass have penned down their autobiography to present the misery of their fellow beings.

The eyes of potential soul arose into the world in Senegambia, and half way around the world in Easton arisen a soul to be etched into the world forever. A girl , no , a woman I should say given the strength possessed in the soul of her body and mind and certainly a man , a man who will grow to learn fathoms of knowledge breaking the impenetrable minds of those who heard silence. These two were of separate shades although fused from one deep pigment. Two of the most renowned black writers that were for the abolitionist movement in America were Frederick Douglass and Phillis Wheatley. During the times of slavery, finding a literate black slave who could read the very words of a paper who could then think for themselves and

Frederick Douglass and W.E.B DuBois were both key figures in the advancements of black education. Although they had very similar thoughts regarding African Americans’ rights to education, they failed to meet exactly on the importance of equality in education. Frederick Douglass defined education as one of the “chief advantages of freedom” (Douglass). He encouraged freed slaves to actively pursue their education so that they may also pursue their own freedom and self-sufficiency. The time of ignorance that had been previously enforced on them by slave-owners was over, and their new possibilities of knowledge would lead them to “an equal chance with all other men in the common race of life and in the pursuit of happiness” (Douglass).

The idea Double Consciousness has been the overarching struggle in many Afro-Hispanic and Latin X literature. Double Consciousness is a term coined by W. E. B. Du Bois to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets. Double Consciousness complicates the feeling of belonging because it makes it difficult for one to develop a sense of self. In the autobiography Down These Mean Streets, written by Peri Thomas, the reader gets to experience the authors struggles with Double Consciousness of being both Hispanic and Black. In a similar fashion, Langston Hughes’ autobiography, Big Sea, gives the reader understanding of the shortcoming of dealing with Double consciousness with class and economic status. In this essay, I will be exploring how movement and location has a strong impact on identity, while simultaneously highlighting the importance to the journey that help develops a sense of self.

In W.E.B. Du Bois’s work “The Souls of Black Folk,” he explores the concept of double consciousness—African Americans must be aware of themselves both as how they inherently are as well as how others see them, as their identity is ultimately fragmented into multiple parts. While describing the struggle of unifying such identities, he states “It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others… One ever feels his twoness, - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” (689). Though his description of his experience as an African-American and the notion of double-consciousness holds true for some, Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels To Be Colored Me” shows that Du Bois’s insight on being a black American is not all-encompassing and he does not speak for the entire race.

The Souls of Black Folk broadens the minds of the readers, and gives the reader a deeper understanding into the lives of people of African heritage. W.E.B. Du Bois articulates the true meaning of the problem of the color-line through his vast knowledge of American history and descriptive personal scenarios. Du Bois

Slavery, many tried to escape it, “tried” being the key word, there was very few who escaped and those who didn’t either were torn apart from wild animals, committed suicide, or were captured captured which would result in flogging, branding, and torture. However, those who successfully escaped sailed to New York City. For instance, Frederick Douglass, he moved from New York to Massachusetts where he worked and followed the work of William Lloyd Garrison. After an anti-slavery convention Douglass attended and spoke at, he was ask by Garrison to join him in his mission to abolish slavery. He accepts, not only is he going to advocate against slavery but he also puts his life in danger while doing it because as he becomes seen in public eye he increases the chance to be caught as a fugitive by bounty hunters. With Frederick Douglass alongside Garrison the anti-slavery cause flourishes, northerners sent Congress anti-slavery petitions which they responded by forbidding their consideration. Showing their true colors, that the government operated pro slaveholders, this drew a wedge into the fractures of the union. Yet, this was not enough for Douglas he wanted to make change directly. To do so he seized the opportunity when he heard the story of George Latimer, a runaway who was captured and imprisoned. It resulted in a great success for the anti-slavery cause by the end not only were they not only able to free Latimer but they were able to make Massachusetts