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A review by aront
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
3.0
I picked up this book since Dubois is being extensively covered by Peter Adamson’s and Chike Jeffers’ Africana Philosophy podcast. He is undoubtedly an important US thinker, and it is well worth being acquainted with both him and his ideas.
I debated whether to give the book a 3 or 4 star. The description of the difficulties of African American life under “Jim Crow” is vivid and gives important insights into this period. It’s at its best when telling the stories of individuals. Unfortunately, those stories sometimes veer into over sentimentality. Dubois is no Toni Morrison (although apparently he was an influence on her and many other Black American writers).
Dubois has many interesting ideas, which he doesn’t spend enough time elaborating on in this book. He also is a man of his times, and he is influenced by contemporaneous ideas on “race character”, which often makes his thoughts sound quaint, or worse, even racist.
As for his bone to pick with Washington, which he spends a lot of time on in this book, listen to the podcast to get some alternative views and insights on these two men and their ideas (and a whole lot more besides).
Despite my giving it 3 stars, I still would recommend reading it
I debated whether to give the book a 3 or 4 star. The description of the difficulties of African American life under “Jim Crow” is vivid and gives important insights into this period. It’s at its best when telling the stories of individuals. Unfortunately, those stories sometimes veer into over sentimentality. Dubois is no Toni Morrison (although apparently he was an influence on her and many other Black American writers).
Dubois has many interesting ideas, which he doesn’t spend enough time elaborating on in this book. He also is a man of his times, and he is influenced by contemporaneous ideas on “race character”, which often makes his thoughts sound quaint, or worse, even racist.
As for his bone to pick with Washington, which he spends a lot of time on in this book, listen to the podcast to get some alternative views and insights on these two men and their ideas (and a whole lot more besides).
Despite my giving it 3 stars, I still would recommend reading it