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Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

579 Words3 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance, which occurred throughout the 1910’s and 1920’s, was a big leap for black communities because the African Americans got a chance to use their creativity and culture to become a strong and equal society in America. The Harlem Renaissance was a time for the black communities of America to find their individuality through art, literature, music, and other aspects of their culture. Through the use of this artwork, African Americans were able to voice their feelings and opinions on the situations they were dealt with during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. This is similar to the works of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois because he voiced his reasoning in the use of literature. Du Bois was a major impact on the Harlem Renaissance …show more content…

W.E.B. Du Bois used his novel, The Souls of Black Folk, to give African Americans the push they needed to achieve the respect from white Americans and most importantly, themselves. He used many terms that made it easier for Americans of every color to identify with. Some of the most important and influential terms Du Bois uses in his book include, the ‘Veil’, which was a divisional line that separated the blacks and the whites and made it difficult for the African Americans to be seen as equal. ‘The Color Line’ was a term Du Bois used for the roles in society that the whites and blacks held. In short, the whiter and richer you were, the higher you were on the color line. Another term he used was ‘double consciousness’, which was how the African Americans viewed themselves as if they were looking at themselves in the eyes of the white people, their ‘masters’. Du Bois put into context that this is not the way America has to work anymore. For centuries, the African Americans were treated with hate and disrespect, they did not know how to view themselves after they received freedom. “Work, culture, liberty, - all these we need, not singly but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward the vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of brotherhood (8).” After the powerful words of Du Bois, the African Americans started to view themselves differently, in a more respected manner. The White Americans started to open their eyes to see how they have been treating the black

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W. E. B. Dubois Analysis

944 Words | 4 Pages

In Souls of Black Folk, one of the first analogies made was considering the “veil”. When I first read about the veil, it was confusing to consider what it meant and how it related to the community. However, upon further reading and consideration, the veil is the most accurate description of what was going on racially and socially then and now. Specifically, when he stated that behind the veil, one can see in and out but from outside the veil, you cannot see in, it was accurate because the white Americans of the time were trying to explain something they could not see into. This was impactful now as well due to the fact other want to claim that racism and oppression does not exist but yet have never experienced it.

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The NAACP’s primary goal during Du Bois’ time was to invalidate the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. He was fond of Booker T. Washington, mentioned earlier, and many of his own views surrounded the concept of double consciousness. Du Bois believed that as a result of Plessy v. Ferguson African Americans began to judge themselves based on white standards, ultimately leading to the internal acceptance of inferiority. He describes the state of double consciousness as, “a peculiar sensation this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others…” (143). In other words, black people have reached a state of double consciousness where they look at themselves in the way that white people look at them.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Dr. W.E.B Du Bois uses this essay to sway the audience of the insufficiency of the statements that Mr. Booker T. Washington has made about African Americans being submissive of rights and the creation of wealth. Mr. Washington believes that the black race should give up and give into what the society norms were at that time sequentially just to have a certain right. Dr. Du Bois refused to believe that the black race should give up one right to get another right. Especially, when the white South had all rights without expecting to give up anything to have those rights.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

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2471 Words | 10 Pages

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870 Words | 4 Pages

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Du Bois described them as hopeless, voiceless, humiliated, disrespected, and ridicule and how society was too focused on politics and wealth. “Would America go poor if white people acknowledge black folk are human beings like any other?”

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1645 Words | 7 Pages

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625 Words | 3 Pages

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132 Words | 1 Pages

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Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

1545 Words | 7 Pages

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1516 Words | 7 Pages

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1740 Words | 7 Pages

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