Within The Veil

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From the class, I read Web Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk which is an influential work of the new class of African-American literature. In this book, Du Bois asserts the problem of the color-line of the Twentieth Century and illustrates some examples of how to manage the worlds of whites and blacks. From his work, the most interesting thing was his concepts of life behind the veil of racial and the resulting double consciousness. An idea of the “Veil” unites contrasting themes Du Bois explores in these essays; explaining how to survive with the awareness of racial duality. Double consciousness refers the sense of always looking at one’s self through others’ perspectives. With his recurring themes in this book, he emphasizes how his concepts prevent African-Americans from recognizing themselves as they really are, outside of the unfavorable perspective of blackness formed by racism. …show more content…

By this Veil, white and black populations were separated and it made African-Americans exist only within the Veil. Within the Veil, African-Americans experienced suppression and had to endure physical and mental hardships. Although it was possible for African-Americans to understand life from within the Veil and outside of it, it was obviously not possible for whites to completely understand the abuse and maltreatment experienced by African-Americans. Du Bois contends that the Veil blocks white people from recognizing black people as Americans, and from treating them as a human. Until he experiences discrimination from whites based on his race that he was able to completely consider life from within it, he was unaware of the existence of the Veil. I have noticed that the Veil was not just a symbol of oppression or discrimination, but also form of an awareness of the experience of blacks in the United States. The Veil, by itself, proves the discrimination and prejudice of African American

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