Rhetorical Analysis of Dubois

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

W.E.B. Dubois The great African American intellectual W.E.B. Dubois was born in the post-Civil War era. Being born at this time encouraged him to fight for equal rights for blacks. At this time, blacks were still suppressed very greatly. Dubois, having had lived in an all black community, experienced racism first-hand in the North (Donalson, 558).

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois is a influential work in African American literature and is an American classic. In this book Dubois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting "double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others," have become touchstones for thinking about race in America. In addition to these lasting concepts, Souls offers an evaluation of the progress of the races and the possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.

He claims that all parties involved were silenced and began to practice Washington’s teachings. DuBois sees Washington as a paradox that takes away the rights of the African American yet advocates for them to do better. He believes Washington is shifting the weight of the problem onto the African American people rather than everyone as a whole. 2.

DuBois’ double-consciousness is quite simply the twoness of American Negroes. It is this sense of “always looking at one’s self through the

W.E.B. Dubois was the rivaling civil rights leader during the early 20th century. W.E.B. Dubois believed that through political action and education, full-citizenship of African Americans in America would be achieved. At first, he agreed with Booker T. Washington’s teachings, however through time Dubois realized flaws within Washington’s ideas. Dubois, in “Soul of Black Folk” writes, “The black men of America have a duty to perform, a duty stern and delicate, -- a forward movement to oppose a part of the work of their greatest leader. So far as Mr. Washington peaches

One of the primary differences between DuBois and Washington was in the ways they believed equality would be achieved. DuBois believed that political change was the first step in achieving equality. If the black populous worked on economy only then they would perpetuate the stereotypes that white people place upon them. By accepting racist and prejudicial viewpoints, the African American communities were affirming their inferiority to the white majority. Only through political equality, for example the right to vote, could men enact any real or meaningful social and

W.E.B. DuBois, a black intellectual believed that Washington's strategy would only serve to perpetuate white oppression. DuBois initially advocated for Washington's strategy, however he grew to find it unacceptable as he became more outspoken about racial injustice. DuBois campaigned for a civil rights agenda and argued that educated blacks could accomplish social change. With the belief that African Americans should work together to battle inequality DuBois helped found the NAACP. DuBois was not content with attempting to gain an economic foothold; he wanted absolute equality in all aspects of life. DuBois believed that Washington "devalued the study of liberal arts, and ignored the economic exploitation of the black masses. He believed that "The Negro Race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education then, among Negroes, must first of all deal with the ‘Talented Tenth.' [which] is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the worst." He believed that the economic and political issues facing African Americans could be solved if the most talented ten

Dubois writings, unlike Washington’s writings survived aging and sounds modern. Both Dubois and Washington, however, wanted the best for their people, both were sincerely engaged in racial uplift, and therefore in the end neither was “right” or “wrong.” Indeed, Washington’s ideas fitted the era that he lived in and Dubois ideas the future.

This passage from Dubois sets up the experience in Citizen, explaining the sensation of being judged and viewed by yourself and by society around you. To Dubois, the life of the ‘negro’ is lived in duality between being black (or negro, as Dubois says) and being American. The key implication from this described duality is the separation in identity between being ‘negro’ and being ‘American’. The same

DuBois' mature vision was a reconcilation of the "sense of double consciousness" - the "two warring ideals" of being both black and American. He came to accept struggle and conflict as essential elements of life, but he continued to believe in the inevitable progress of the human race - that out of individual struggles against a divided self and political struggles of the oppressors, a broader and fuller human life would emerge that would benefit all of mankind (Kerry W.).

The souls of black folks is an American classic written by W.E.B. Dubois in this book Dubois touches on many sensitive subjects that is plaguing the African American community dating far back to the times of his father’s fathers. As Karl Max was the father of social conflict theory Dubois is the father of race conflict theory which today in our era is common among black males and white police officers.

He says that there is a lot of culture from the black people in America that should be shared amongst the country and the same should be shared for the culture of white people. The races could learn from each other if they just work together and exist side by side. DuBois wants the black people to be taught academics more thoroughly so that the black people can get into government and make a change to the strive that one day American can be a country of two races. “Patience, Humility, Manners, and Taste, common schools and kindergartens, industrial and technical schools, literature and tolerance, -all these spring from knowledge and culture, the children of the university. So must men and nations build, not otherwise, not upside down.” DuBois (pg. 269). Washington did not grow up like DuBois and so he did not learn the same things early on as DuBois did. DuBois states that the things that Washington is teaching to the students at Tuskegee are things that one should learn in “common school”. However, Washington did not go to “common school” and most students in the area of Tuskegee there is no “common school” those students are from the poorest part of the country and DuBois just has no idea what level of improvement Washington has done for those people and that

J., Borer, M. I., & Macgregor, L. C. 2015, p. 79). Dubois wanted to understand why there was such a difference in the way that African American members of society had difficulty in blending and becoming part of the culture. He found out that the drastic difference between how white and black citizens were treated led to him discovering that “Poverty, crime, and prejudice were intricately linked to both social structure and social interactions” (Monti, D. J., Borer, M. I., & Macgregor, L. C. 2015, p. 79). Dubois also discovered that the treatment of a person depended on the lightness or darkness of their skin, he believed that those who were in the higher classes had the obligation to help those who were struggling, but he thought that both parties had to work together in order to make things better for everyone. This idea that he had was considered to be a “civilized city”. I believe that Dubois would say that civic engagement is necessary in order to make our communities better. I think that his ideas are still relevant in today's society, and is used in planning for building cities. For example, parks are a

The racial issues and discrimination in the twentieth century were absurd. Although there were advocates for racial equality and rehabilitation after slavery, there were still many struggles. During this time period because African Americans were not given well deserved rights granted by the 14th AMendment, therefore, they were not able to live up to their full potential. They often had to work extra hard to get basic needs such as education, jobs, and even a place to live. In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B DuBois claims “The problem of the Twentieth Century was the color line,” meaning that there was a clear division of race during this time (DuBois v). The book provides a number of essays which all convey the issue of African American discrimination. It starts off explaining the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation, 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments, and Freedmen's Bureau. Then it goes into DuBois´ personal experience with racial discrimination and the things he views around him. DuBois moves around different locations of America showing how even thought they were different in many ways they all kept one thing in common - African American were not treated equality. Therefore, W.E.B. DuBois’ purpose is to show the issue of racial discrimination of this time period and the effect it has on people, places, and history, and how a lot of the time they were given false hope. It also gave African Americans pride and something to believe in even though society was against them.