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Du Dubois Double Consciousness Essay

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Du Bois concept of double consciousness was officially introduced in 1903 in his publication The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois argues that double consciousness is the idea of having a divided identity preventing a unified self. “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” (Du Bois, 351). In regards to the African-American race, blacks were often torn between viewing themselves from the oppressive perspective of whites and their own black identity. I would argue that though this termed was not coined until 1903, the idea can be seen in The Conservation of Races. Du Bois wants blacks to find their identity in being American Negros.
A direct correlation is evident between the opening quote from page five of The Conservation of Races …show more content…

Du Bois believed that the black people will not and cannot advance until they take their place in Pan-Negroism. “For this reason, the advance guard of the Negro people… must soon come to realize that if they are to take their just place in the van of Pan-Negroism, then their destiny is not absorption by the white Americans” (Du Bois, 5). Du Bois pushes the Negro population to discover their genuine selves and not dwell on the perspective and culture of the dominate race. Additionally, once the Negro population notice their own potential and “follow Negro ideals” rather than the Anglo-Saxon culture, they can reach true capability. Nevertheless, the division between Negro and American prevails and limits blacks attempt of Pan-Negroism. Du Bois

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