W.E.B. Du Bois Posting

Rich Hoggan
English 48B
Du Bois Blog Posting
01-13-11

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was not born into slavery but Du Bois was born in a time when racism was still rampant. Du Bois first experience such racism while in school when the kids were exchanging what we now know of as post cards and one girl wouldn't accept his. This event in Du Bois' life was not one of moral defeat but of an eye opening experience -- his realization that he was different. Du Bois would later go on to study at Fisk and Harvard Universities. Du Bois' ability to go to school is a far cry from Washington's and it goes to show that the times radically changed from when Washington was growing up to Du Bois' childhood. It's feels as though it's unfair to compare Washington with himself as Du Bois did because Washington was born into slavery, Washington growing up didn't have much choice.

A quote that I found interesting in text was "One ever feels his two-ness, -- 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" (896). Why would there be a need to feel "two-ness?" Why does one's past and one's present have to remain separate, it should be the past that defines the future. The fact that Du Bois is making a connection to his heritage as much as he is making a connection to being an American demonstrates that they should be one and not two. Continuing through the quote, Du Bois now assumes that there are two separate ideals attempting to remain pronounced. It seems as though such ideals are both so radical that for them to come out would be destruction as we know it -- a break in the space-time continuum. Further considering his quote, it's important to note that it almost seems as through Du Bois is referring to his own ideals and Washington's ideals. He is saying we have one set of principles which seems to work but doesn't go far enough, yet we have another set of ideals which goes all the way, which goes back to the roots of who Washington and Du Bois really are.

Coming from his page on Wikipedia, "Du Bois thought blacks should seek higher education, preferably liberal arts. He also believed blacks should challenge and question whites on all grounds" (W.E.B. Du Bois - Wikipedia). Such a quote demonstrates how opposite Washington's and Du Bois' thinking really was. Washington made it clear that you should think of where you are right now, look at what's around you so you don't miss anything while Du Bois is attempting to raise fellow African Americans to higher levels. While it's the American dream of a higher education and what should be a right, Washington was trying to build a solid foundation of hard work. Washington was also about working together to create a solution to the problems being faced such that better economic prosperity might be in store for a lack of rights. Du Bois on the other hand didn't accept such thinking and called for the questioning and challenging of such thinking. Washington attempted to lead in a way that was less obtrusive and less about gaining rights. Such leadership constantly came under fire by Du Bois through out his text The Souls Of Black Folk -- criticism misplaced and lost in context. To sum up, it's understandable and obvious that one does not want to go without civil rights and equality but it's the times that dictates what negotiations will create the outcome(s) desired.