Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the Souls of Black Folk represents a collection of fourteen historical and sociological essays framed by the Forethought and Afterthought. In the Forethought and Of Our Spiritual Strivings Du Bois outlines the primary metaphorical concepts of his work, the â€Å"veil† and â€Å"double consciousness†, through which, according to the author, American blacks face the world. Hence, the â€Å"veil† represents â€Å"Negros’† innate feature, an indication of color line, historically conditioned lack of ability of white people to accept blacks as equals and at the inability of African-Americans to exceed the poor limits society establishes for them. The â€Å"double consciousness† is closely related to the concept of the â€Å"veil† and refers to the existence of two conflicting identities of African-Americans, that is to say the one of emancipated American citizen and the other of former slave continuing to experien ce inequality and restrictions.This paper discusses that  social tendencies of the post-emancipation epoch aggravated a lot African-Americans’ plight then. For example, in Of the Black Belt Du Bois cites his experience of travelling in so-called Jim Crow Car giving readers the insight of how poorly the discrimination on the ground of skin color legalized by Jim Crow Laws affected the blacks’ life conditions and their self-appraisal in particular.  Du Bois also outlines the prejudicialness of American society toward the Black people.