W e b du bois essay

Du Bois Name of Student Institution Affiliation Introduction William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B) Du Bois was an African American postmodern theorist that was born in Massachusetts in 1868, just a few years after the civil war when African Americans were optimistic about the end of slavery. He grew up in Great Barrington, a society that was more tolerant to African Americans than the greater United States of America. The Great Barrington neighborhood in Massachusetts had a population that was majorly composed of European Americans and his family was among the smaller free black population. These philosophers developed principles and theories in an effort to try to give meaning to the changes they were witnessing. Some salient features of postmodernism included widespread skepticism, suspicion of reason, subjectivism and increased indifference to the usage of ideology in amassing and maintain power in politics and economics.

W. E. B. President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation that liberated the African Americans from slavery. However, this was not to be the case after the president’s assassination because things went back to normal and the black man faced the same racial injustices as before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was a mixed feeling for the African Americans because they considered themselves Americans as most of them were born in the United States of America (USA) but the white people considered them Africans and not worthy of the American title. Therefore, they thought of themselves in as both Africans and Americans and had to act in mannerisms that conformed to these two identities. Du Bois (1989) mentions that they felt the duality of being an American and a Negro.

Despite the fact that slavery had been abolished, African Americans were still not full and equal citizens in the eyes of the Caucasians. The African Americans still had a long way to go before they could catch up with the level of privilege that the Caucasians enjoyed. Du Bois (1989) lamented that the ideals of freedom, political power and education for the African Americans had waxed and waned. African Americans had to fight for one thing after the other constantly. For instance, immediately they had fought against slavery, they had to begin another fight to gain suffrage rights. The inequality also brought issues of racism in that, the fact that African Americans fought against the oppression was in itself an instance of racism. Karl Marx, a classical theorist, was an egalitarian and had his own theory of equality.

Marx was against the systematic inequality that surrounded him. The society was divided along social, cultural and economic structures and Marx sought to have all these abolished (Wood, 2014). Just like Du Bois, Marxist theory of equality supported universal free education and equal labor rights and liabilities. While the African Americans struggled with the duality of their identities, Mead offers a solution by stating that the black community could use this feeling to create a connection that would have shaped their collective agenda. This double consciousness could offer a meaning to the lives of African Americans. Conclusion Over 100 years since Du Bois first coined the term “double consciousness,” it remains relevant in the American society. The theory helps us understand the struggles that various groups of people face in the current society.

Not only do African Americans experience double consciousness but also women, the elderly, the poor, Mexicans in America and even Muslims. Francis, L. E. Adams, R. E. Two Faces of Self and Emotion in Symbolic Interactionism: From Process to Structure and Culture—And Back.