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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
In The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois portrays the experience of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction era. Du Bois paints an upsetting picture of the black experience in America at the turn of the century.
Each of the essays in The Soul of Black Folk varies in prose and topics. Du Bois covers the structural issues of racism in the South, his counterthesis to Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise,” religion in the African American psyche, among many other things. He gives a story about his first born child and a fictional story between two characters named John. The topic of the “veil” and “color-line” is weaved through each page which highlights the black experience. The idea of a "double consciousness" paints a picture of how it's like being the "other" in America.
The insight and wisdom Du Bois shows in each essay shines on even to today. I found myself reading this book as if it was written this year. I was not expecting such topics as economic and physical imprisonment or lack of political representation. Seeing these persistent problems written about over 100 years ago shows how long we still have to go.
Since this book was written in 1903, the language and writing style can be a bit dense. There are many layers of meaning behind each page. Du Bois ties in mythology, story-telling, and Biblical allusions in each essay. Though exhausting for some readers, I wouldn’t let that take away from the book. Though some ideas in the book feel outdated, Du Bois’ main arguments are still relevant than ever.
Seeing how many of the themes Du Bois covers in this book still resonate even to today is heartbreaking. Yet, it's somewhat inspiring to see how far we've come since the days this book was written. We’ve come a long way but still got a long way to go.
5/5. A must read classic of American literature. Cannot recommend this book enough.
Each of the essays in The Soul of Black Folk varies in prose and topics. Du Bois covers the structural issues of racism in the South, his counterthesis to Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise,” religion in the African American psyche, among many other things. He gives a story about his first born child and a fictional story between two characters named John. The topic of the “veil” and “color-line” is weaved through each page which highlights the black experience. The idea of a "double consciousness" paints a picture of how it's like being the "other" in America.
The insight and wisdom Du Bois shows in each essay shines on even to today. I found myself reading this book as if it was written this year. I was not expecting such topics as economic and physical imprisonment or lack of political representation. Seeing these persistent problems written about over 100 years ago shows how long we still have to go.
Since this book was written in 1903, the language and writing style can be a bit dense. There are many layers of meaning behind each page. Du Bois ties in mythology, story-telling, and Biblical allusions in each essay. Though exhausting for some readers, I wouldn’t let that take away from the book. Though some ideas in the book feel outdated, Du Bois’ main arguments are still relevant than ever.
Seeing how many of the themes Du Bois covers in this book still resonate even to today is heartbreaking. Yet, it's somewhat inspiring to see how far we've come since the days this book was written. We’ve come a long way but still got a long way to go.
5/5. A must read classic of American literature. Cannot recommend this book enough.
Will write more about Du Bois later, but for now I will say that his writing style and the strength of his ideas are equally powerful. Not a single word on the page seems unnecessary or out of place.
This was, as you'd expect, interesting (culturally, politically, etc) but also pretty dry. The subject isn't new or surprising to me in any way (though I'm sure at at least certain parts will be to some), but there were specifics that I wasn't previously aware of and certain phenomena mentioned were explained really well which I appreciated.
I zoned in and out of some of the anecdotes.
I zoned in and out of some of the anecdotes.
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Powerful and all too relevant, especially in regard to the systematic oppression of black people in, say, the criminal justice system. Each chapter looks at a different topic/theme/aspect of black life. I'm not a fan of each chapter, but the ones that I do like I like a lot. My only quibble is that Du Bois almost exclusively uses "he" or "men" and only rarely mentions women. When he says "black men," I think he means it literally. So, you know, just your average 1900s patriarchy bullshit, but other than that it's quite good.
note: I read a different edition, but the app isn't letting me pick which edition.
du Bois has been criticised for both elitism and sexism, and I can see why. But even for me, who does not forgive those flaws lightly, the work outshines it's failings.
this book is rightly one of the foundational texts of Africans studies, but it should be an equally foundational text in AMERICAN studies. it lays out, beautifully and convincingly, the reality of two Americas, existing side-by-side and the duality of experience of black Americans.
More than once this book moved me to tears, but more it opened my eyes to things I had heard of but never fully understood.
du Bois has been criticised for both elitism and sexism, and I can see why. But even for me, who does not forgive those flaws lightly, the work outshines it's failings.
this book is rightly one of the foundational texts of Africans studies, but it should be an equally foundational text in AMERICAN studies. it lays out, beautifully and convincingly, the reality of two Americas, existing side-by-side and the duality of experience of black Americans.
More than once this book moved me to tears, but more it opened my eyes to things I had heard of but never fully understood.
A far more informative examination of the place of African Americans in the Reconstruction era and around the turn of the 20th century than that of Washington. DuBois brings his sociological leanings and his education to bear on the "Negro problem" in America and endeavors to discuss the causes of the current situation as well as what needs to be done to remedy the situation.
He and Washington actually have some similar ideas about what is necessary--education is at the heart of both of their visions of racial improvement. The difference is chiefly that DuBois is far more willing to criticize than is Washington and he sees the need for more than industrial education. Where Washington sees poor blacks and focuses on their shortcomings and what they need to do be better human beings (learn a trade, learn to wash, learn manners), DuBois, while not denying the existence of such flaws, looks to deeper issues. Why do the African Americans of the Black Belt remain in such conditions? Why do they accept these conditions and why do they behave in ways that allow their white neighbors to write them off as slovenly or lazy? More importantly, DuBois extends his analysis to include the behavior of white America. What role has white America and the government played in developing this generation of African Americans? And what can be done now, on both sides? He writes, "[Mr. Washington's] doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro's shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs" (94). Thus, DuBois tries to provide a vision of what has gone wrong that reveals the burdens and responsibilities of all parties, in the hopes that the betterment of African Americans will not be left for them to accomplish on their own, having had such a rough start and having to live in a nation that despises them.
He and Washington actually have some similar ideas about what is necessary--education is at the heart of both of their visions of racial improvement. The difference is chiefly that DuBois is far more willing to criticize than is Washington and he sees the need for more than industrial education. Where Washington sees poor blacks and focuses on their shortcomings and what they need to do be better human beings (learn a trade, learn to wash, learn manners), DuBois, while not denying the existence of such flaws, looks to deeper issues. Why do the African Americans of the Black Belt remain in such conditions? Why do they accept these conditions and why do they behave in ways that allow their white neighbors to write them off as slovenly or lazy? More importantly, DuBois extends his analysis to include the behavior of white America. What role has white America and the government played in developing this generation of African Americans? And what can be done now, on both sides? He writes, "[Mr. Washington's] doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro's shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs" (94). Thus, DuBois tries to provide a vision of what has gone wrong that reveals the burdens and responsibilities of all parties, in the hopes that the betterment of African Americans will not be left for them to accomplish on their own, having had such a rough start and having to live in a nation that despises them.
This collection of essays first published over 100 years ago, sadly, and predictably sounds as relevant today as it was then.
Du Bois names the problem of the 20th century (and so far the 21st) to be "the color line". The troubled and cruel history that this country is built on. The biggest of all sins, where we continue to deny the black body its humanity.
In this book we confront the reality of what "liberation" really meant to black men and women after the civil war.
Such a troubled history all mixed up in this American Dream. A good place to start unraveling it would be this book.
Du Bois names the problem of the 20th century (and so far the 21st) to be "the color line". The troubled and cruel history that this country is built on. The biggest of all sins, where we continue to deny the black body its humanity.
In this book we confront the reality of what "liberation" really meant to black men and women after the civil war.
Such a troubled history all mixed up in this American Dream. A good place to start unraveling it would be this book.
Exactly the beautiful and heartbreaking read it is hailed to be. The most impactful chapters to me were the final two: The Coming of John, and The Sorrow Songs. But they were most impactful because of the cumulative, rolling narrative and the vivid, needful pictures Du Bois paints throughout the book. Each chapter is stand alone, but shouldn't be read alone.