Double Consciousness Research Papers

502 Words3 Pages

Double consciousness, the way in which people, specifically African Americans maintain two behavioral scripts, one for how they would typically move across the world, another that takes racially prejudice onlookers into consideration (You May Ask Yourself). Although first coined in the early 20th century by W.E.B DuBois in a time that racism was more prevalent, the term may still be applicable to the United States currently. The Doll Study provides evidence for this topic. As it allows insight as to how the easily impressable minds of children are affected by their parents and surrounding and reflecting on show the children see themselves. The original Doll Study, conducted in the 1940s provided the data that 63% of children preferred to play with the white doll and 44% said that the white doll looked like them. This initial study displays how almost half the African-American children viewed themselves as white, supporting the concept of double consciousness. When the study was revisited by Good Morning America in the 2000s, 88% of the African-American children …show more content…

Opposed to how the United States perceives those of both heritages, Latin America has been accepting of these children born to both. Even allowing them to participate in military services. However, in the United States that was not the case, with black soldiers being segregated until WWII. From this, the case of double consciousness can be argued for and against. For because as they were segregated, there was no racially prejudice onlookers within their companies and they did not have to adopt another personality while there. And against because as there is no longer segregation in the US military, African-Americans and whites are on equal ground. Although this desegregation is not the equivalent of lack of double consciousness, it lessens the need for African-Americans to adopt such an outlook because of the acceptance now