Souls of Black Folks in the Book

¶ … Souls of Black Folks

In the book The Souls of Black Folks, author W.E.B. Dubois writes about the disparages in the treatments of southern blacks. Throughout the work Dubois discusses the various issues that require attention and the policies in the United States which require reformation in order to create equality in the races. African-Americans of the south deserved the right to vote, a decent and equal education, and above all to be treated equally in personal, legal, and in all governmental matters. In the first chapter, Dubois describes a metaphor which he carries throughout the rest of the text; that of the metaphor of the invisible veil. This veil, he claims, is the metaphorical divider between races, a visual analogue of the race barrier which also serves to symbolize the obstruction of laws and equality which is equated by the difference between appearances of black and white.

Although Dubois states that this veil exists, he does not have particular interest in removing this veil. "I had therefore no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows."[footnoteRef:1] It is a clear delineation between black and white and serves to separate the two races. In 1903 when Dubois was writing this piece, the South was still suffering from post-Civil War racial aggravation. Although free from slavery, the blacks in the American south were in still impoverished and had little if any political power. Also, it was almost impossible to receive justice in legal disputes against white people. Everyone in the community was aware of these unspoken rules and regulations about interracial communication and interaction. The veil hinders the African-American community from achieving any form of equality with their white counterparts. "I have called my tiny community a world, and so its isolation made it; and yet there was among us a halfawakened common consciousness, sprung from common joy and grief, at burial, birth, or wedding; from a common hardship in poverty, poor land, and low wages; and, above all, from the sight of the Veil that hung between us and Opportunity."[footnoteRef:2] The veil is both symptom of the epidemic and causation. This delineation of white and black is symbolized in the veil and also the veil prevents anyone from seeing different skin tones without the implication of inequality. [1: Dubois, William (1903). The Souls of Black Folks. Forgotten Books.] [2: Dubois, William (1903). The Souls of Black Folks. ]