W.E.B. Du Bois and Double-Consiousness or 'Twoness' Sumblog 8

 I believe the term double-consciousness or 'twoness' which originated from W.E.B. Du Bois is a very in depth and important term to recognize. Being a white, male American I very seldom see discrimination towards myself and never really have to question the way others view me just by my appearance. For me I don't question the way my countries feels about me or the way others feel about me because of race, I believe they will view me on my personality and the way I conduct myself. It's sad to see that people of different race, in this case African Americans have to question how to identify themselves. Like we talked about in class majority groups usually know how to identify themselves, but minority groups will often double identify themselves because they don't exactly know if they should identify themselves as American or Black. In the reading W.E.B. Du Bois said "one ever feels his twoness, -An American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strenght alone keeps it from being torm asunder." This really shows me how difficult this issue is for African Americans and how frustrating it would be to live in a country and walk around everyday not even knowing your true identity. The words from Du Bois's reading that stuck with me the most were when he said, "In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. he would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. he simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face." This passage is so important because it explains that an African American should be able to keep his history and be able to blend it with the American ways to make a better self. I personally believe history is something that can help explain a lot about a person and it also plays important roles in people lives. Therefore, it is important for not only African Americans to remember their history, but also all people in the world. I also think it's important to adapt some American ideals like Du Bois said, because America does have so much to offer. I believe if it were easier to merge the American and the African American into one it would reduce much uncertainty and ease things for the Africans who live in America. They should not have to walk around each day not being able to identify who they truly are. As a developed nation we should accept all individuals who live in America as equals and not look differently towards others because of race or ethnicity.
I personally think as a societal view as a whole we expect to much from African Americans. Why are they not able to attain the same occupations, schooling, live styles, etc? Du Bois said "Here in America, in the few days since Emancipation, the black man's turning hither and thither in hesitant and doubtful striving has often made his very strength to lose effectiveness, to seem like absence of power, like weakness." I really like this quote and the way I interpreted it is that he believes we are expecting so little from African Americans that we are making them feel like they do not have to be effective in our society and make differences. I almost feel like he believes the blame should be placed on whites because we are not giving African Americans a chance to rise about what is expected and be successful and make differences in our society. I also believe he blames the African Americans for accepting the views whites have of them and how they will not rise above and work to prove others wrong. I think all of this reallky goes along with his theory of double-consciousness because the majority groups are not expecting African Americans to want to rise up and be successful and they are treating them as if they cannot be successful therefore the African Americans start to act upon the views of the majority groups. I liked the comparison to what Du Bois states as double-consciousness and how it relates to self-fulfilling prophecy. In my communications class we talked about self-fulfilling prophecy and how it involves making a prediction, acting as if the prediction were true, and because of how we act the prediction then does become true. I completely agree that African Americans in our society can be and are successful members who do make a big difference, but I think that majority groups needs to view them as active and successful members and in turn African Americans will also start to view themselves in this positive and active way in our society. If we start to view everyone as equals in our society I then think African Americans will have a much easier time identifying themselves and will not have to question the way others feel about them and the way they are viewed by our country.

This picture backs up what Du Bois said about African Americans feeling trapped and not knowing how to identify themselves. They are black people living in a society where they are being torn between Americanizing and keeping their history. This illustration shows the American part and Negro part going seperate ways and that is exactly how the African Americans in our society feel. Du Bois wants these arrows to be pointing towards each other and the merging of being Negro and American to come together in America.