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christytidwell 's review for:
The Souls of Black Folk
by W.E.B. Du Bois
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.