"Souls of Black Folk"

Paper Summary:

In the "Souls of Black Folk," Du Bois entices the reader to try to understand what it is like to be a part of the world in which an African-American lives, an understanding of the souls of black folk. This paper shows that Du Bois's use of the term "Double Consciousness" refers to a sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. The African community, described in the novel, is dealing with the issue of having being viewed through the eyes of another community, that community being the one of the white man.

From the Paper:

"How does it feel to be the problem? Du Bois poses this question rhetorically in a manner that raises another question: Why are we the problem? Du Bois, who was raised in the North and South, educated in high honors from Harvard, and a modern 19th century man that on most scales would be not only equal, but also even superior to a majority of white Americans. Du Bois uses many statistics that show the progress of blacks in regards to education. His belief, different from Booker T. Washington, is that African Americans will rise and lift the veil through education, black suffrage, and civic equality."

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