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The Souls of Black Folk (Excerpt) - W.E.B. DuBois

In this excerpt from 'The Souls of Black Folk,' W.E.B. Du Bois discusses the concept of double-consciousness experienced by African Americans, who navigate their identity as both Negro and American amidst societal contempt. He expresses a desire for a harmonious merging of these identities without losing the essence of either. Du Bois argues that African Americans embody the true spirit of American ideals and contribute significantly to the nation's culture and heritage.

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6 views1 page

The Souls of Black Folk (Excerpt) - W.E.B. DuBois

In this excerpt from 'The Souls of Black Folk,' W.E.B. Du Bois discusses the concept of double-consciousness experienced by African Americans, who navigate their identity as both Negro and American amidst societal contempt. He expresses a desire for a harmonious merging of these identities without losing the essence of either. Du Bois argues that African Americans embody the true spirit of American ideals and contribute significantly to the nation's culture and heritage.

Uploaded by

dangkhanhngoc2804
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WEB DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) excerpt

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/articles/the-souls-of-black-folk-excerpt/

After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of
seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,-a world which yields
him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world.
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. One ever feels his twoness,-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.

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife-this longing to attain self-conscious
manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the
older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world
and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro
blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro
and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of
Opportunity closed roughly in his face.

…there are to–day no truer exponents of the pure human spirit of the Declaration of Independence than
the American Negroes; there is no true American music but the wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave;
the American fairy tales and folklore are Indian and African; and, all in all, we black men seem the sole
oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.

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