"The Souls of Black Folks"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines W.E. B. Du Bois and his novel "The Souls of Black Folks." The writer begins with a short biography DuBois, his motivation behind the writing of this book and how in his later life he embraced Communism. The author discusses some of the major topics that are covered in DuBois' book including black history in the post-Civil War period, the contributions of some of the most blacks in American history, racism and poverty. According to this author, this book is one of the most significant pieces of non-fiction written about the black community in America prior to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

From the Paper:

"Throughout the book Du Bois mentions racism almost casually, such as the white school superintendent who hires him to teach, invites him to dinner, and then makes him eat alone, after the whites have eaten their dinner. These slights are just some of the injustices blacks faced during Du Bois' time, and they appear continually in the book, illustrating the depth of racism and ignorance in white society. "Again, we may decry the color-prejudice of the South, yet it remains a heavy fact. Such curious kinks of the human mind exist and must be reckoned with soberly. They cannot be laughed away, nor always successfully stormed at, nor easily abolished by act of legislature" ("Souls," 2002)."

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