The And Do The Right Thing : An Evolution Of Double Consciousness Essay

Between the World and Me has been called a book about race, but the author argues that race itself is a flawed, if anything, nothing more than a pretext for racism. Early in the book he writes, “Race, is the child of racism, not the father.” The idea of race has been so important in the history of America and in the self-identification of its people and racial designations have literally marked the difference between life and death in some instances. How does discrediting the idea of race as an immutable, unchangeable fact changes the way we look at our history? Ourselves? In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and the current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the

From his narrative, he derives this concept of a “veil” that African Americans face in American society and how they may develop a double consciousness as well. Through the concept of a double consciousness, those subject to this may develop separate identities through their ethnicity and through their identity as an American. This may create a conflict of identity within the individual and as a result, these individuals may undergo the negative effects of “the veil” that may limit these individuals socially and economically within a society. He blatantly states that the “criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those lead...this is the

The misinterpretation of African Americans is very prominent in society. Claudia Rankine’s Citizen sheds light on the hyper-visibility of the African-Americans through stereotypes and invisibility of the Black body itself in an attempt to get readers to understand the inner conflicts of Black citizens. Citizen is composed of seven sections, which vary in length and content. The book is interspersed with photographs, sculpture, paintings, and other types of media. Rankine also draws from film and video, and various news media. Her descriptions of encounters between people of different races show how disconcerting words are and how they affect people. Though we often hear about deep-rooted institutional and cultural forces that contribute to racism, it appears that we less often hear about the psychological processes involved. Many would like to believe that racism is over, but society actions are a constant reminder of their true feeling about Blacks. Racial bias is prominent at all levels of the institution and it paralyzes the race as a whole. Rankine uses pronouns, anecdotes, and visual art to uncover the unconscious nature of racism and extend the conversation. The audience is both the eyewitness and the victim in this “post-racial” society that fails to teach us how to be a citizen. In allowing us, the readers and audience, to subject ourselves to this hurt, we experience, an understanding of true citizenship by identifying the wrongs and understanding the difference.

In 1863 the emancipation proclamation was signed giving African American citizens the right to vote. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act passed outlawing discrimination based on, among other qualities, race. Although progress in racial equality is evident, its slower than many assume. W.E.B. Du Bois (p.373) lamented, “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.” America’s culture of racial stereotyping and hidden racism is explored in Robin D. G. Kelly’s essay “Confessions of a nice negro, or why I shaved my Head”, and complimented by Du Bois’s pioneering theories regarding the color line, the veil, double consciousness, and standpoint epistemology found in “The Souls of Black folk” and “The Souls of White Folk.”

Dubois’ describes the African American experience as a “double-consciousness.” He theorizes that the world “yields him no true self-consciousness;” however he goes on to describe the experience of having a dual consciousness as a “sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others” (Dubois, 38). Self-consciousness is defined as being hyperaware and concerned with the opinions of others in relation to oneself, therefore Dubois has contradicted himself. The aspect of examining oneself through the eyes of others shall hereafter be referred to as “self-consciousness” for the sake of clarity between the theory of double-consciousness and the

Furthermore, the researchers divide white racial consciousness into two: achieved and unachieved. A person who has achieved white racial consciousness has explored and developed some sort of belief system when it comes to racial issues. Conversely, those with unachieved white racial consciousness have not grasped their own racial identity and its link to other minority groups, which may stem from either intentionally avoiding dialogue surrounding race or depending on family members to form an ideology. In his book Faces at the Bottom of the Well, Bell argues that this relatively loose grasp of white racial identity creates an environment that serves a significant detriment to advancing racial progress in the country, as “few white people are able to identify with blacks as a group –the essential prerequisite for feeling empathy with, rather than aversion from, blacks’ self-inflicted suffering” (Bell, 4).

Before Du Bois brought the term “double consciousness” to light, there was no way to describe such an unspoken phenomenon. In W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk (1903) he introduces and describes how African Americans and their history have been shaped by the state of living in and wanting to overcome double consciousness. Du Bois perfectly describes double consciousness in African Americans as living behind a veil. The veil is bittersweet and produces a “second-sight” in America. From one perspective, the veil is a curse. On the contrast, it is what has made African Americans what they are today. In Du Bois’ own words, double consciousness is a “sense of always looking at one 's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one 's

Double consciousness and intersectionality are two sides of the same coin, whereas double consciousness describes the sense of a perceived identity in conjunction with self-identity; intersectionality breaks down the various social dynamics that lead to the perceived identity of people. Many of the perceived identities that are attached to a person by society are shrouded in misconceptions, over-generalizations, and stereotypes. For example, if a man and a woman stand in a room wearing scrubs and stethoscope and people were asked to point out who is the nurse and who is the doctor, most people would say that the man is the doctor just based on society perceived. The second stream of consciousness comes from the female doctor understanding that because of preconceived notions she will be mistaken for a nurse regardless of how many years she has worked to be called the doctor.

This quote also identifies a major way that the double consciousness effects black and white relations by identifying the false identity that the African American society presents to white individuals. By creating this inaccurate presentation of themselves, an unrealistic relationship is created that is founded on lies and misconceptions. This also ties

Dr. W.E.B. DuBois calls it “The Veil” living in a double consciousness, the knowing how to differentiate within the worlds of whiteness and blackness. The double life of this magnitude can result into great insanity, for you know that in your heart you’re more than what they portray you as in the media and cinema, that there must be more to your lineage than watered down slave narratives, and a 28-day month of which is dedicated to scarcely covering a fragment of your races contributions to this

From the role it plays in literature to its looming existence in our everyday lives, race has an undeniable influence on many aspects of our lives. Toni Morrison and Peggy Mcintosh, a writer and an activist respectivley, both have the urge to understand this presence and impact of race in literature and everyday life specifically. Through self reflection and attempts to see from others’ perspectives, both Morrison and Mcintosh manage to answer their own questions regarding race and its role in literature and everyday life while articulating their discoveries and intentions in similar and comparable ways. Both of their pieces, “Playing in the Dark,” and “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to see Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies,” help Morrison and Mcintosh, as well as readers, to understand the polar yet interdependent nature of African American and white status in America.

The African American author, W.E.B Du Bois in his work of American literature “The Souls of Black Folk” defines the concept of “double-consciousness” as “this 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”. (Du Bois 689).Which means that the Negro looking at himself through the eyes of others. The Negro was considered a symbol of struggle although his presence in the American community was a problem for the white people. Therefore, the Negro trying to attain self- consciousness manhood and to merge two conflicting identities into a better and truer self. Some of the author respond to Du Bois’s concept of double-consciousness such as

“Colors of Discrimination,” a document written in English 240 critically analyzes “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison and addresses discrimination based on race. In Toni Morrison’s story “Recitatif” she illustrates the issues of segregation and discrimination faced by people of different races and examines societal views about these issues. Twyla and Roberta, two young girls of different races placed in foster care and share a room together (Morrison 132). Twyla at eight has learned to discriminate against people of other races because her mother says they have unclean hair and body odor (Morrison 131). Twyla and Roberta meet several times years later and the first time Twyla sees Roberta where she works as a waitress at the Howard Johnson, but Roberta pretends she has never met Twyla (Morrison 137).

We in America think we are past racial oppression, but we still stereotype people based on preconceived ideas we have in our head. In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif”, she tells the story of Twyla and Roberta who meet at an orphanage, but never explicitly identifies who is either black or white. The reader’s stance to identify the race of the girls transitions constantly throughout the short story. Actions and events throughout the narrative suggest differences in social class and education, but the reader can never be entirely certain who is of what race. Toni Morrison challenges readers to think outside of racial barriers in this compelling selection and teaches us that we as humans still continue to categorize each other.

Double consciousness is the presence of two unconnected streams of consciousness in one individual. This concept was coined by Du Bois during the 19th century and is first explored in his publication, “The Souls of Black Folks.” Du Bois writes in his publication, “Only those who have watched and guided the faltering feet, the misty minds, the dull understands, of the dark pupils of these schools know how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn" (12). By writing this African Americans do