Brief: The Souls of Black Folk

The emancipation of Black folk in the United States appeared as a victory of equal freedoms and opportunities, but alas, the underlying negative ideals associated with racial discrepancies was already branded in the American mindset. Instead of cultural acknowledgement and a shared kinship in a land derived from new beginnings, the only message received by black Americans was,

“How does it feel to be a problem?”

W.E.B. Dubois addresses this issue in an attempt to implore fellow Americans to find a sense of “human brotherhood.” I took the Root of Blues course last quarter and developed a deeper understanding of how powerful African culture is and how it can drastically influence a society it comes in contact with. Blues music and later jazz broke down the timely societal norms because white people were mesmerized and enticed by black culture. White Americans were sharing in and embracing black culture without even realizing it. This is one mere example of the undeniable power African culture possesses.     

W.E.B. Dubois stresses that both cultures have a lot to offer each other and that further prosperity can be obtained for everyone if the new ideal is to coexist without "half-hesitant feelings".

One quote from the reading that really stood out to me, detailing precisely a socio-problematic occurrence that is still congruent with conditions black Americans face today states, “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardship.”          

The Souls of Black Folk Forethought and Chapter 1 Audio Book [HD]

[Of Our Spiritual Strivings begins at 5:00]

1."How does it feel to be a problem?  I answer seldom a word," Du Bois writes.  He is referring to the so-called "Negro Problem" that fascinated and perplexed many social scientists in the early 20th century (and later).  In short, these scholars asked, why are African American's unable integrate into American society like other groups?  What does DuBois have to say about this?  How has the the question - "how does it feel to be a problem" - impacted Black Americans.

2. W.E.B. DuBois' use of the terms "the veil" and "double-consciousness" have been profoundly important for scholars of race and ethnicity.  What does he mean?  If you're familiar with Dunbar's poem "The Mask," you may see similarities.

3. Written at the dawn of the 20th century, what are the "spiritual strivings" that DuBois identifies?  Why are the necessary or important?  If we were to rewrite this passage for the 21st century, how and why would it differ?

Brief: Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Dubois captured the frustrating and looming concept of one’s mere existence being seen as a problem. It is as if skin color itself is an offense that, if not explained away, has the potential to offend a large portion of our society.  Are his sentiments still alive in the souls of Black folk today?

“You’re not like other Black people.”

“I don’t even see you as Black.”

“You’re a credit to your race.”

These are things I’ve heard in my lifetime. These are the modern-day versions of W.E.B. Dubois’ reference to the unasked question: “How does it feel to be a problem?”

 He pointed to the irony of stealing an entire race’s access to wealth, education, success or freedom, while simultaneously seeing that race as stupid, poor, and incompetent. A man who can’t legally get an education and has no chance at a career will inevitably struggle in poverty.  He perfectly captured the destructive attitude of society at that time in his words, “behold the suicide of a race”. Yet, amid the desolation and intentional subjugation to failure, he also expresses extreme optimism. He praises the idea of meshing the conflicting Negro and American identities into one. 

In Arthur Symons’ “Our Spiritual Strivings”, he expresses his emotional struggle as water. Water, ever fluid & resilient, is one of the strongest forces on the planet. This made me think deeply about why W.E.B. Dubois chose this poem to begin his writing with. What connects water, expression, struggle, emotion, and the Black man?  Incalculable power. 

Selma

Gil Scot Heron | Black History

I was wondering about our yesterdays,

and starting digging through the rubble 

and to say, at least somebody went 

through a hell of a lot of trouble 

to make sure that when we looked things up 

we wouldn't fair too well 

and that we would come up with totally unreliable 

portraits of ourselves. 

But I compiled what few facts I could, 

I mean, such as they are 

to see if we could shed a little bit of light 

and this is what I got so far:

First, white folks discovered Africa 

and they claimed it fair and square. 

Cecil Rhodes couldn't have been robbing nobody 

'cause he said there was nobody there. 

White folks brought all the civilization, 

since there wasn't none around.

They said 'how could these folks be civilized 

when you never see nobody writing nothing down?' 

And just to prove all their suspicions, 

it didn't take too long. 

They found out there were whole groups of people 

— in plain sight —

running around with no clothes on. That's right!

The women, the men, the young and old, 

righteous white folks covered their eyes.

So no time was spent considering the environment. 

Hell no! This here, this just wasn't civilized! 

And another way they knew the folks was backwards,

or at least this how we were taught 

is that 'unlike the very civilized people of Europe'

these Black groups actually fought! 

And yes, there was some 'rather crude implements' 

and yes, there was 'primitive art'

and yes they were masters of hunting and fishing

and courtesy came from the heart. 

And yes there was medicine, love and religion, 

inter-tribal communication by drum. 

But no paper and pencils and other utensils

and hell, these folks never even heard of a gun. 

So this is why the colonies came

to stabilize the land. 

Because The Dark Continent had copper and gold

and the discovers had themselves a plan. 

They would 'discover' all the places with promise. 

You didn't need no titles or deeds.

You could just appoint people to make everything legal, 

to sanction the trickery and greed.

And out in the bushes if the natives got restless

You could call that 'guerilla attack!'

and never have to describe that somebody finally got wise 

and decided they wanted their things back.

But still we are victims of word games, 

semantics is always a bitch:

places once called under-developed and 'backwards'

are now called 'mineral rich.'

And still it seems the game goes on 

with unity always just out of reach 

Because Libya and Egypt used to be in Africa, 

but they've been moved to the 'middle east'.

There are examples galore I assure you, 

but if interpreting was left up to me 

I'd be sure every time folks knew this version wasn't mine 

which is why it is called 'His story'.