21st Annual Student Research Conference
Racial and Class Bias In Du Bois' "The Souls Of Black Folk"
Tiffany D. Caesar
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
"The Souls of Black Folk" by Du Bois reveals to some degree his own racial and class bias. This paper examines Du Bois' own struggle with double-consciousness and the veil. Double-consciousness is the idea that African-Americans were embattled within by being doubly aware of being both "American" and "African." He also believed that African Americans were born with a veil that did not allow them to see themselves entirely. He argues that this veil "only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world," the "white world." These very concepts allow us to see the ways in which he had internalized a racial and class bias. The reader may detect in "The Souls of Black Folk" traces of Du Bois's own double-consciousness and veil as revealed in the passages of the book.
Keywords: race, class, bias, double-consciousness, veil
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 33-2
Location: OP 2121
Time: 1:30