The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-07-04
THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK


centage of the Caucasian people in the
UnIleu States, if one JUDGES Dy the spirit
Of prejudice which exists here, really
doubt the existence of souls under black
The wave Of color prejudice which has
recently swept over the country, threat
ening the absolute undoing of one -seyenth
Of the citizens of this, land, by the denial
Of their simplest rights, and the attempt
now being made by the South to relegate
all Afro -AnerieanS. without regard to
of practical serfdom, makes THE Souls of
Black Folk" by Prof. Du Bots. an Afro
American, a graduate of Fisk University
versity Of Berlin and now professor Of
economics and history at Atlanta Uni
versity, one of the most striking books in
contemporary literature.
Herein lie buried many things which,
if read with patience, may show the
strange meaning of being black here in
This meaning is not without interest to
you, gentle reader, for the problem OF the
twentieth century is the problem of the
color line.
II pray you then, receive my little book
in all charity, studying my words with
me- forgiving mistakes and foibles for
sake of the faith and passion that is in
me, and seeking the grain of truth hidden
there.
II nave sought to sketch on vague, I'M
certain outline, the spiritual world in which
ten thousand thousand Americans live and
strive. First, in two chapters, have tried
to show what emancipation meant to
them and what was its aftermath. In a
| third chapter I have pointed out the slow
candidly the leader, who bears the chief
| burden Of his race to-day. Then, IN two
other chapters 1 have sketched in swift
| outline the two worlds within and without
| trail problem Of training men for life.,
! have in two chapters studied the struggles
! of the nassed millions of the black peas
antry, and in another have sought to
/ sons Of master and man.
| Leaving, then, the world of the white
| manu- have stepped within the veil rals-
| ing it that you may view family it's deep
| est recesses-the meaning OF its rellglon,
the passion of it's human sorrows, and the
| struggle of it's greater souls.
Before each chapter stands a bar OF
the sorrow songs-some echo of haunting
melody. from the only American music
which weiled up from black souls IN the
dark past. And finally, need l add that
| who speak here am bone Of the bone and
flesh of the. flesh Of them that live within
| the veil?'
Book I. is called "Of Our Spiritual
strivings." In it he says:
Between me and the other world there
is ever an unasked question:, unasked by
some through feelings of delicacy; by
| others through the difficulty Of rightly
| framing it. All, nevertheless, futter rouno
| It. In6y dpUIOdCIl 1uS LII q hcaAA AACoA|e-AA'
sort of way, eye: me curiously or compass !;
sionately, and then, instead of saying d.
rectly, How does it feel to be problem
they say, know an excellent co 1 man
| Vile; or. Do not these Southern outrages
make your blood boil? At these smile
| or ara interested, or reduce the boiling tC
simmer. as the occasion may require
! To the real question, How does it feel tc
| be a problem? 1 answer seldom word.
1T is a peculiar sensation, this double
! consciousness, this sense OF always LOOK
ing at ones self through the eyes OF oth.
| ers, of measuring ones soul by the tape
| of world that looks on in amused con-
tempt and pity. One ever feels his two
two thoughts two unreconciled strvings
| two warning ideals in one dark body
whose logged strength alone keeps II
| from being torn asunder.'
| The third essay IS a criticism Of Booker
| T. Washington, full and frank. The au-
! thor says
| Easily the most striking thing in the
history of the American Negro since 1876
| ington. 1t began at the time when wal
! memories and ideals were rapidly passing
| a day of astonishing commercial develop:
ment was dawning; a sense OF DOUBT anc
then it was his leading began. Mr.. Wash
| ington came, with simple. definite pro
| gramme, at the psychological moment
| when the nation was a little ashamed OF
| having bestowed so much sentiment or
| Negroes. and was concentrating It's ener'
gies on dollars. His programme OF NOUS.
| trial education, Cancellation OF the Soutf
! and submission and silence as TO civil an,
| political rights, was not wholly orlglnai
the free Negroes from 1880 up to war tl1ne
| had striven to build industrial scnools
had from the first taught various trades
| and Price and others had sought way
! of honorable alliance with the best OF TN
southerners. But Mr. washington mrs TS
| irJy thoSp things:
| enthusiasm unlimited energy, ana per
feet faith into the programme, and chang
ed it from by-path into a Verltaple wa.
Of life. And the tale Of the methods Q:
which he did this is a fascinating stuo!
of human life ,,u
After detailing the greatness OF MI
Washington's task and the means o!
which he accomplished his aims and gain
ed the cooperation of both the South AM
the North, he says:
And yet this very singleness of vision
and thorough oneness with ms age IS -
though nature must. needs MAKE me-
narrow in order to give them force -
Mr.. Washingtons cult has gained unq9es
fully prospered, his friends are legion an
his enemies are confounded; Ioday n
| stands as the one recognized Spohes1uSa
| of his $1,000, 900 fellows, and one OF III IN
| most notable figures in nation or |0,OoU,
Then he says that among his own PEG
! ple Mr. Washington has encountered IN
strongest and most iastlng oppossittiHU ~
| there is among educated and thougnt1u
Afro Americans in all parts OF the land
feeling of deep regret, sorrow ana app,G
| hension at the wide currency ana asceno
ency which some of Mr.. Washington
theories have gained. He continues:
"Mr. Washington distinctly asks ina
black people give up at lease Tor env =. @
insistence on civil rights; 3, higher educa
ton of the Negro youth-and concent 1;at
all their energies on industrial ean ha oon
the accumulation Of wealth. and the con
Citation of the South: This policy mas
been courageously and mistakenly advocat
ed for over fifteen years, and mas peer
triumphant for perhaps ten years; hrs nch
what has been the return? In these years
| there have occurred: !. The disfranchlse-
| ment of the Negro; 2. The legal creator
Of distinct sta be s 81 wthdrawa
aid from institutions for the higher train
ing of the Negro.
"These movements are not. to oe sure IRE
| ings. but his propaganda has. without !.
| shadow of doubt, helped their speedle1
! ACCOMPLISHMENT. The question:, then
me Is it make
| in economic lines if they are deprived OF
political rights, made servlle caste. a 1l
| allowed only the most meager cnance !ol
| developing their exceptional men? II MS
torv and reason give any distinct answer
| to these questions it is an emphatic mo;
| And Mr.. Washington thus faces the triple
| paradox of his career. .. -.-sr-
81. He is striving nobly to make Negro
artisans, business men and property own
ers, but it is utterly impossible under mod
ern competitive methods, for workingmen
! and PROPERTY owners to defend their rights
and exist without the right Of suffrage ?.
f's2. He insists on thrift and sef-respect,
but at the same time counSelS a silent
| submission to civic inferiority such as is