Journal 9: W.E.B. Du Bois

Michelle Romero
Eng 48B
Dr. Scott Lankford

From The Souls of Black Folk

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, 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 is able to define and frame into context the feelings of being marginalized in white society which is particularly geared at black folk. He of course, is speaking to the black society in this work, however, his "double-consciousness" is cross-cultural and can be applied to virtually anyone.

I believe his ideas in this quote concerning the "double consciousness" illustrate human's struggle with their own self-image and their image in society, not whether they are a part of two cultures or not (which is what most people seemed to steer toward in class). This statement is not purely race related. For black Americans at the time, it just so happened that this was in fact, the biggest separator.

Directly following this quote, Du Bois goes on to say "One ever feels his two-ness, --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." Again, in this passage, there are clear verbal and nonverbal cues that lead to the idea of race being the contributor to the creation of "two-ness." For example, he says straightforwardly that being an American and a Negro creates two-ness. He also says these two warring feelings occur within a dark body. HOWEVER, allow me to steer you toward the inclusiveness of this statement. Du Bois elaborates on the meaning of "two-ness" when he calls it "two unreconciled strivings," "two warring ideals." Basically then, every individual who attempts to create an identity for their self faces this challenge: The ideals and values of their own personal belief system and that of the dominant mainstream society which will seek to oppress any individuality or difference of opinion. I think it is important not to degrade the power of his statement in relation to the "Negro problem," but to show that the theory is definitely universal.

Yes, and I know this America, land of the free, but let's be serious, there are more marginalized persons here than anywhere! It is sometimes the nonverbal cues in a society that make the message clear of what is expected and it is this struggle between self-identity and societal identity that Du Bois really captured quite beautifully.