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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
updated my review and changed rating from 5 stars to 3.5 stars because I read this farrrr more critically (probably b/c I'm reading this 2 years later).
many, many thoughts.... Du Bois was so very classist and colorist that this book is so hard to read at times.
many, many thoughts.... Du Bois was so very classist and colorist that this book is so hard to read at times.
Critical text in critical race theory. A well deserved classic which explodes tired categories of psychoanalytic theory, political economic, memoir, and narrative. Required reading for all white Americans.
Thoughts:
Is the veil still there? If not, will the youth living on South Side agree to that?
Double consciousness with respect to other races...more contemporary ideas and crises of identity of second-generation immigrants.
Can this double consciousness be empowering?
Does education actually lead to more homogenous social classes, or does it just somehow feed into the already skewed system (corollary, what have we been doing wrong that there are still youth in the South Side who don't even dream of attending U of C ?)
Talented Ten…classist (what has actually happened? )
Are our modern struggles with a veil and the idea of a veil very class-based rather than race-based? Or, maybe, not.
Interesting line of thought...during SOSC class Du Bois was the one writer apart from Mill who was actively called out on being elitist. *post-racial world is not here yet*
Is the veil still there? If not, will the youth living on South Side agree to that?
Double consciousness with respect to other races...more contemporary ideas and crises of identity of second-generation immigrants.
Can this double consciousness be empowering?
Does education actually lead to more homogenous social classes, or does it just somehow feed into the already skewed system (corollary, what have we been doing wrong that there are still youth in the South Side who don't even dream of attending U of C ?)
Talented Ten…classist (what has actually happened? )
Are our modern struggles with a veil and the idea of a veil very class-based rather than race-based? Or, maybe, not.
Interesting line of thought...during SOSC class Du Bois was the one writer apart from Mill who was actively called out on being elitist. *post-racial world is not here yet*
read for APUSH monograph critical review, lots of thoughts
This is a tiny book that took me over 6 months to finish. Du Bois is a genius and a masterful writer, but it did get very dreggy and slow toward the end. Still super glad I read this, there were breathtaking pieces of prose alongside scathing critiques of American society at its very base level, and the few very pointed jabs against Booker T. were quite fun.
5 Stars
*Part essay, part memoir, but 100% essential reading*
The Souls of Black Folk is one of those books that everyone should read. This book provides an indispensable look at the history of racism in America. And it is tragically still relevant today. It was groundbreaking for its time – there were virtually no books by black authors back then. And the author was just as pioneering.
The book is short and easy to read. DuBois’s writing was erudite and illuminative. At times it was impassioned; at other times it simply stated the facts. The book is more like a series of essays, some about his personal experiences and others about the history of slavery and racism. But all of it was fascinating and significant.
It would be better for you to read The Souls of Black Folk yourself. So I’ll close with a couple of quotes and urge everyone to read this book.
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Attention to Details: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Objectivity: 5 Stars
*Part essay, part memoir, but 100% essential reading*
The Souls of Black Folk is one of those books that everyone should read. This book provides an indispensable look at the history of racism in America. And it is tragically still relevant today. It was groundbreaking for its time – there were virtually no books by black authors back then. And the author was just as pioneering.
“Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, — all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, — who is good? not that men are ignorant, — what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”
The book is short and easy to read. DuBois’s writing was erudite and illuminative. At times it was impassioned; at other times it simply stated the facts. The book is more like a series of essays, some about his personal experiences and others about the history of slavery and racism. But all of it was fascinating and significant.
“The equality in political, industrial and social life which modern men must have in order to live, is not to be confounded with sameness. On the contrary, in our case, it is rather insistence upon the right of diversity; - upon the right of a human being to be a man even if he does not wear the same cut of vest, the same curl of hair or the same color of skin. Human equality does not even entail, as it is sometimes said, absolute equality of opportunity; for certainly the natural inequalities of inherent genius and varying gift make this a dubious phrase. But there is more and more clearly recognized minimum of opportunity and maximum of freedom to be, to move and to think, which the modern world denies to no being which it recognizes as a real man.”
It would be better for you to read The Souls of Black Folk yourself. So I’ll close with a couple of quotes and urge everyone to read this book.
“Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched,- criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led, - this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society”
“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.”
“The South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has had, and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know.”
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Attention to Details: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Objectivity: 5 Stars
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Influential, ground-breaking, and timeless—W. E. B. Du Bois’ [b:The Souls of Black Folk|318742|The Souls of Black Folk|W.E.B. Du Bois|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309202855l/318742._SY75_.jpg|1137159] is an amazing social analysis/piece of literature that took the world by storm. I knew Du Bois was a force of nature, but I had no idea of just how truly influential he was (and is) until I read this work.
A century before Ta-Nehisi Coates penned [b:Between the World and Me|25489625|Between the World and Me|Ta-Nehisi Coates|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451435027l/25489625._SY75_.jpg|44848425] as a letter to his son on racial injustice in America, W. E. B. Du Bois asked of his fellow man, ”Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it… How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.” With these sentiments, Du Bois presents the concept of life ”within the Veil”—a manifestation of the color line—where life is split between the expectation established by hegemony, and the reality of systemic injustice.
Du Bois evaluates life ”within the Veil” throughout a number of the essays presented in this volume. Notably though, in Our Spiritual Strivings, he expands that within this context, how people form a type of ”double-consciousness”. This term, Du Bois explains as:
“After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, — a world which yields him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One 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.
In addition to offering elegance and insight, Du Bois’ social analysis, which was built on thoughtful interactions with the people he was writing about, predates the work of many prominent anthropologists first credited with “inventing” ethnographic field work. I would actually consider this collection to be one of the best ethnographic collections I have ever read. Du Bois was a man ahead of his time in a number of ways, though his work will most likely be remembered for its very real impact on civil rights in the United States.
Over half a century before Martin Luther King Jr. “had a dream,”, Du Bois questioned in his final essay, The Sorrow Songs, “Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins. Is such a hope justified?”
Given the current reality, I think that this question is (and will remain) one worth revisiting. This, in addition to a number of other great content, including a memorable critique of Booker T. Washington’s more conservative approaches, is why I think The Souls of Black Folk is a book worth reading. Either way, Du Bois’ resonance will persist whether or not you are aware of it.
A century before Ta-Nehisi Coates penned [b:Between the World and Me|25489625|Between the World and Me|Ta-Nehisi Coates|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451435027l/25489625._SY75_.jpg|44848425] as a letter to his son on racial injustice in America, W. E. B. Du Bois asked of his fellow man, ”Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it… How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.” With these sentiments, Du Bois presents the concept of life ”within the Veil”—a manifestation of the color line—where life is split between the expectation established by hegemony, and the reality of systemic injustice.
Du Bois evaluates life ”within the Veil” throughout a number of the essays presented in this volume. Notably though, in Our Spiritual Strivings, he expands that within this context, how people form a type of ”double-consciousness”. This term, Du Bois explains as:
“After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, — a world which yields him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One 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.
In addition to offering elegance and insight, Du Bois’ social analysis, which was built on thoughtful interactions with the people he was writing about, predates the work of many prominent anthropologists first credited with “inventing” ethnographic field work. I would actually consider this collection to be one of the best ethnographic collections I have ever read. Du Bois was a man ahead of his time in a number of ways, though his work will most likely be remembered for its very real impact on civil rights in the United States.
Over half a century before Martin Luther King Jr. “had a dream,”, Du Bois questioned in his final essay, The Sorrow Songs, “Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins. Is such a hope justified?”
Given the current reality, I think that this question is (and will remain) one worth revisiting. This, in addition to a number of other great content, including a memorable critique of Booker T. Washington’s more conservative approaches, is why I think The Souls of Black Folk is a book worth reading. Either way, Du Bois’ resonance will persist whether or not you are aware of it.
Essential. (Though I would recommend reading the young adult biography "His Was the Voice" first, for background; I got it as a free Amazon eBook.) DuBois details the roots of the "Race Question," both sociologically and economically, and could be speaking of today's America. From the final essay:
"Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope—a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The minor cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence. Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins. Is such a hope justified? Do the Sorrow Songs sing true?
The silently growing assumption of this age is that the probation of races is past, and that the backward races of to-day are of proven inefficiency and not worth the saving. Such an assumption is the arrogance of peoples irreverent toward Time and ignorant of the deeds of men. A thousand years ago such an assumption, easily possible, would have made it difficult for the Teuton to prove his right to life. Two thousand years ago such dogmatism, readily welcome, would have scouted the idea of blond races ever leading civilization.
So wofully unorganized is sociological knowledge that the meaning of progress, the meaning of "swift" and "slow" in human doing, and the limits of human perfectability, are veiled, unanswered sphinxes on the shores of science. Why should AEschylus have sung two thousand years before Shakespeare was born? Why has civilization flourished in Europe, and flickered, flamed, and died in Africa? So long as the world stands meekly dumb before such questions, shall this nation proclaim its ignorance and unhallowed prejudices by denying freedom of opportunity to those who brought the Sorrow Songs to the Seats of the Mighty?
Your country? How came it yours? Before the Pilgrims landed we were here. Here we have brought our three gifts and mingled them with yours: a gift of story and song—soft, stirring melody in an ill-harmonized and unmelodious land; the gift of sweat and brawn to beat back the wilderness, conquer the soil, and lay the foundations of this vast economic empire two hundred years earlier than your weak hands could have done it; the third, a gift of the Spirit. Around us the history of the land has centred for thrice a hundred years; out of the nation's heart we have called all that was best to throttle and subdue all that was worst; fire and blood, prayer and sacrifice, have billowed over this people, and they have found peace only in the altars of the God of Right. Nor has our gift of the Spirit been merely passive. Actively we have woven ourselves with the very warp and woof of this nation,—we fought their battles, shared their sorrow, mingled our blood with theirs, and generation after generation have pleaded with a headstrong, careless people to despise not Justice, Mercy, and Truth, lest the nation be smitten with a curse. Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood. Are not these gifts worth the giving? Is not this work and striving? Would America have been America without her Negro people?"
"Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope—a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The minor cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence. Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins. Is such a hope justified? Do the Sorrow Songs sing true?
The silently growing assumption of this age is that the probation of races is past, and that the backward races of to-day are of proven inefficiency and not worth the saving. Such an assumption is the arrogance of peoples irreverent toward Time and ignorant of the deeds of men. A thousand years ago such an assumption, easily possible, would have made it difficult for the Teuton to prove his right to life. Two thousand years ago such dogmatism, readily welcome, would have scouted the idea of blond races ever leading civilization.
So wofully unorganized is sociological knowledge that the meaning of progress, the meaning of "swift" and "slow" in human doing, and the limits of human perfectability, are veiled, unanswered sphinxes on the shores of science. Why should AEschylus have sung two thousand years before Shakespeare was born? Why has civilization flourished in Europe, and flickered, flamed, and died in Africa? So long as the world stands meekly dumb before such questions, shall this nation proclaim its ignorance and unhallowed prejudices by denying freedom of opportunity to those who brought the Sorrow Songs to the Seats of the Mighty?
Your country? How came it yours? Before the Pilgrims landed we were here. Here we have brought our three gifts and mingled them with yours: a gift of story and song—soft, stirring melody in an ill-harmonized and unmelodious land; the gift of sweat and brawn to beat back the wilderness, conquer the soil, and lay the foundations of this vast economic empire two hundred years earlier than your weak hands could have done it; the third, a gift of the Spirit. Around us the history of the land has centred for thrice a hundred years; out of the nation's heart we have called all that was best to throttle and subdue all that was worst; fire and blood, prayer and sacrifice, have billowed over this people, and they have found peace only in the altars of the God of Right. Nor has our gift of the Spirit been merely passive. Actively we have woven ourselves with the very warp and woof of this nation,—we fought their battles, shared their sorrow, mingled our blood with theirs, and generation after generation have pleaded with a headstrong, careless people to despise not Justice, Mercy, and Truth, lest the nation be smitten with a curse. Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood. Are not these gifts worth the giving? Is not this work and striving? Would America have been America without her Negro people?"
