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The Souls of Black Folk by W.E. B. Du Bois
Published in 1903, The Souls of Black Folk is an African-American literature written by W.E. B. Du Bois. The text was developed in favor of the sources of the problems that relate to the black people in the Diaspora. The color line among other factors has been described to be the immediate cause of the problems faced by the blacks. In addition, the individualism among the Americans is seen to infringe the freedom of the blacks that has great impact on the national history of racism from 1903 to date. Du Bois critically analyzes such issues in the following different ways as demonstrated in his writing.
Du Bois’ take on Individualism and Freedom
According to Du Bois, slavery was the greatest aspect that dispelled freedom from the individuals. Native Americans valued individualism so much, that they could not use their own people to work in their agricultural plantations. Instead, they involved the black men in all the hard jobs and farming activities. Most of those who were under the slavery bondage faced inhumane treatment from their white owners, because they were owned like property. This situation facilitated their sorrows, their prejudices and limited their freedom to lead good lives.
Du Bois described individualism as an aspect of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others. In addition, he describes individualism as an impediment to democracy which was led to the denial of freedom to the black people. The lack of democracy in the society denied African Americans voting rights, which degraded their civil status. The same affected their right to attending higher educational institutions. Despite the fight for democracy by Du Bois, other leaders, the white American governments argued to the contrary. Their view of freedom was totally against the rational view of freedom by African Americans. This is the reason Du Bois said that Washington’s idea was contradicting the urge to enhance freedom by eliminating racism.
According to Du Bois, Americans are materialistic and individualists. Being a school teacher at one of the schools in Tennessee, he got enough evidence from the way he observed the society in his position. He realized that the individual attention to gain wealth was given higher priority than the other important aspect of the society, such as education. African Americans were only taught how to earn money rather than balance between the standards of human culture and ideas on how to cope with life. Du Bois wanted a training that could lead to a return in education as a way of introducing equality that would introduce the African Americans to freedom.
Du Bois describes freedom to be the only tool that could save Africa American from slavery. In this case, he refers to the freedom to live, freedom of speech, the freedom of democracy and work, the freedom of socialization and aspiration as well as the right to movement. Du Bois also stated that such freedoms would only be realized if all people were involved in the freedom efforts. On the contrary to this expectation, Individualism was an infringement to the process human socialization in the racist America.
According to Du Bois, the lack of civil rights and freedom for black people widened the gap between them and white Americans. Through the efforts of Du Bois, black people realized that there were denied a lot of basic human freedoms. In addition, they realized they deserved better lives, rather than their experiences in detention and bondage. They were not satisfied by the way they were treated by the whites. As much as some of the slaves could access formal life, they were still enslaved to their masters. According to Du Bois, this was the most severe impediment to their freedom.
In his argument for the freedom of the African Americans, Du Bois presents the issues that affected the freedom of the black people. The efforts of Du Bois were not only focused on attaining freedom, but also to end the effects of slavery. As a result, his efforts focused on using different methods to ensure that the black people understood the concept of freedom and the gains from it. This was the reason why the fight among the blacks was to ensure they transform their life into a reality by enjoying the basic human rights of a normal civilian in America.
According to Du Bois, the efforts of the freedom loving citizens and the support given by the blacks by rational organizations, was the necessity towards freedom. This would only be achieved if people were treated equally and considered equal citizens under the constitution. With the achievement of equal freedoms, African Americans could enjoy better standards of living and social amenities like education and health care. In addition, they could challenge the status quo in the country by opposing individualism as well as attain self-development. In addition, black people would be able to practice the religions as part of their freedom of worship. Moreover, they would own resources, cultivate their own land and elect their preferred leaders as a result of attaining freedom.
The Intersection with the National History regarding Race
In his writings, Du Bois tried to create an understanding of the effects brought by racism are made clear to everyone. Through the understanding created by Du Bois on freedom and individualism, racism relates to different aspects that are against development of the nation. In modern day, racism has been considered a threat to the international unity. Different countries, organizations, and activists have made efforts to ensure that racism does not influence the modern society.
From the Du Bois view, racism and individualism have significant effects on the United States and the world as a whole nation. This is because several issues that infringe human freedom emanate racial domination and racial exploitation. Therefore, people should fight racism as a consistent effort to make the modern society better. According to Du Bois, fighting racism is a continuous cause, especially in a world with different people from different races.
To promote freedoms in the current world, education is important. The rise of schools among the blacks came because of the abolition of slavery and the attainment of freedom. The same can be used to fight racism and promote freedom in the 21st century. The fight against racism and promotion of freedom will bring changes that are essential to human dwelling in every part of the globe.
To fight racism in the modern world, basic human rights and freedoms should be considered to be universal. This is because the lack of basic freedoms is a result of racist discrimination, not only in the United States, but globally. In 1903, Du Bois stated that the immediate tragedy that affects the nation is the denial of freedom and racism. The same scenario is observed to date. To ensure equality, citizens need to elect their preferred government officials without any prejudice of color, race or ethnicity. This would be the true essence of ending individualism and promoting freedoms in the current world.