Dan Cardin
Mrs. Guilmette
May 25, 2010
English
Black Folk
	W. E. B. Dubois puts forth some interesting thoughts in this reading. He sees the world in a very interesting way. Dubois separates the races in his mind as all being different. It is odd with this manner of thinking that he would want the blacks to have an equal treatment. Usually, the argument was put forth that “all men are created equal” which would imply a blurring of the lines between the races. Using Dubois’s way of thinking however clearly defines that anyone who is not inside his “veil” is separate. It may simply be his way of thinking of the separation of the races in the modern America of his time, but the materialization of this into a metaphorical veil seems to  suggest, as do his other essays, that he sees the races as separate, not simply that they are separate. The concept of double consciousness is doubly interesting. Dubois, as is probably true for many blacks at the time, sees the plight of the racial segregation of blacks as the only issue of its kind. He says that the double consciousness is only beholden by blacks because they need to see the world as if they were of the other races. The concept is interesting because of its actual philosophical existence – since many blacks probably did try to see the world through the eyes of the whites, as well as their own – despite the fact that, as they weren’t the only victims of discrimination, they were probably not the only ones to go through such an experience.
	The ironic part of Dubois’s later suggestions and criticisms of Washington is that Dubois himself was never a slave. He was born free in Massachusetts. While he does initially congratulate the efforts of Washington, his later actions and subsequent words show that he has quite a few discrepancies with the manner in which Washington wanted to get equality. The fact that he was never a slave plays heavily on his opinions. While he may have been discriminated against, it was nothing close to what happened to most slaves, so it is somewhat silly that he dismisses the thought of Washington’s submissive, but forward moving ideas simply because they would not immediately bring equality. Without actually first handedly knowing the experience of being a slave, I find it hard to reliably believe that his opinions were something that should have necessarily been taken seriously. In my opinion, the opinion of someone who was a slave, such as Washington should have more standing than a rather inexperienced mind such as Dubois.