"How and why is a Social Group Represented in a Specific Way?"
In 1903, Black Rights Activist, WEB DuBois published a series of essays about racism in the south as well as the methods in which blacks should go about advancing in society. The collection, titled The Souls of Black Folk delivered a distinct interpretation of African Americans when compared to that of Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey. DuBois employs a principal purpose on the education of blacks to achieve social equality. He also writes thoroughly on his own experiences as well as many aspects of black culture during the time. o Throughout the essays, DuBois highlights the struggle of the black race o Detailed personal narratives on certain situations o Argues the effects
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Primarily, DuBois shows them to be disadvantaged among white society. He speaks on the evidence of a color line where Blacks in America are pictured as inherently inferior to the rest of the white society. In this way, an empathy and understanding of blacks is established. Also, blacks are shown to be uneducated and unable to achieve social advancement. DuBois emphasizes this point specially to oppose the varying ideas about improvement proposed by that of Booker T. Washington. Chiefly, William crafts an image of blacks that attempts to persuade for the improvement of their socioeconomic standing in …show more content…
This message is presented through personal narratives outlining some of the trials that DuBois experienced. First mentioned in the essay “Our Spiritual Strivings”, DuBois professes that he first recognized that he was at odds with his peers when he was child by stating “It dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil.” Through this, he builds basis for the idea of the veil which is the permanent acknowledgement by Blacks that they are different than whites. This point is furthered through another personal experience in “Of the Passing of the First Born” which recounts the death of his first son. In hindsight, DuBois claims that he was happy to find that his son would never have to live in the tyranny of the