The Souls Of Black Folk And Three Negro Classics

Dubois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. UMDrive. The University of Memphis. N.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.

Spirituals, a religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States. The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones, is, above all, a deeply emotional song. Spirituals are really the most characteristic product of the race genius as yet in America. But the very elements which make them uniquely expressive of the Negro make them at the same time deeply representative of the soil that produced them. Spirituals were long thought to be the only original folk music of the United States, and research into its origin centered mainly on the nature and extent of its African

Eileen Southern’s The Music of Black Americans: A History she examines the influence that African Americans had in the holiness churches in music and worship. She initially starts with the landing of the first Africans to the colonies and she creates a phenomenal conversation of the musicians in the new world. She details the progression in the gospel, classical, jazz, rap, blues and the contributions they made.

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.

to rear and support a family and it undoubtedly leads to sexual immorality” (98). He adds that

W.E.B. DuBois, in The Souls of Black Folk describes the very poignant image of a veil between the blacks and the whites in his society. He constructs the concept of a double-consciousness, wherein a black person has two identities as two completely separate individuals, in order to demonstrate the fallacy of these opinions. J.S. Mill also describes a certain fallacy in his own freedom of thought, a general conception of individuals that allows them to accept something similar to DuBois’ double-consciousness and perpetuates the existence of the veil.

The Souls of Black Folk, written by W.E.B DuBois is a collection of autobiographical and historical essays containing many themes. DuBois introduced the notion of "twoness", a divided awareness of one's identity. "One ever feels his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keep it from being torn asunder" (215). There are many underlying themes in this collection of essays. One of the themes that DuBois speaks on extensively is education.

The turn of the 19th century was a time in American history that brought with it major economic, cultural, and political changes. The Reconstruction era and Gilded Age had ended with rising influential Jim Crow laws, which made a clear division among the American population. The publishing of Booker T. Washington's, Up from Slavery and W. E. B. Du Bois's, The Souls of Black Folk both occurred in the early 1900's when oppression of the black race in America was known internationally. The two men's novels are both persuasive writings that questioned the land they lived on. The similarities and differences in Washington and Du Bois's novels can be evident through their individual writing style,

“A piece of cloth or net worn usually by a woman over the head and shoulders and sometimes over the face.” This simple definition, provided by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is often the first thing that comes to mind when speaking about a veil. However, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers another definition: “something that covers or hides something else.” I believe that this definition is more closely related to the veil that W.E.B. DuBois discusses in this book, “The Souls of Black Folk.” The first time Dubois brings up the idea of a veil, it is when he is describing an experience from his past that made him feel as though he was different from other people. He uses the idea of a veil to emphasize separation he felt from the other people— the white people. However, Dubois reveals that he had, “to tear down that veil, to creep through that veil, to creep though,” (DuBois, 10). Does this mean the veil isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As DuBois continues to talk about his experiences, the veil eventually turns into “the shades of the prison-house…” (10). This signifies that, as Dubois became older, his anger grew towards white people. But who could blame him? DuBois was growing up the post-civil war era, the time also known as Reconstruction, a time when slaves were “free” but black people were still extremely mistreated.

In 1897 Du Bois moved to Atlanta University, where he taught economics and history for more than a decade. His most widely acclaimed work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) was published during his time in Atlanta. With The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois had begun to challenge the leadership of Booker T. Washington, a fellow educator who was then the most influential and admired black in the United States.

The Negro Spirituals in antebellum America were packed full of theological significance and taught adults and children about living a life of faith (Massey 426). Also, the songs gave incredible encouragement to people who were being unjustly treated in deplorable conditions. As one author states, “The songs nurtured a sense of faith and hope in an oppressed people, which were passed on to subsequent generations” (Massey 427). Furthermore, there was a deep connection with the Old Testament nation of Israel and the African slaves in America; meaning, they identified “with Israel in bondage, and the idealization of Moses as the divine agent of liberation” (Newman 700). Also, as they longed for freedom, “The spirituals gave them a sense of identity

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

In its variety and range The Souls of Black Folk indicates Du Bois' appreciation and mastery of the essay form as practiced in the nineteenth century ... Sensitive to the many purposes to which the form

W.E.B. Du Bois writes a collection of essays on race, preferably the African American race, entitled The Souls of Black Folks. In the forethought, Du Bois lets the reader know gather together an introduction of the rest of the book. He introduces you to his concept of “the veil” Drawing from his own personal experiences, Du Bois develops a remarkable book on how the world is divided by a color line. The divide being between white and privileged, and black and controlled. I will attempt to break down the thought process of Du Bois during the entirety of this synopsis of chapters 1, 3, and 6.

W.E.B Du Bois was and continues to be an important figure in the discipline of sociology and the individual’s understanding of certain concepts, especially with regards to double consciousness and the individual in society.