W.E.B. DuBois' The
Souls of Black Folk
Introduction
The Souls of Black Folk was the first widely circulated expression of how African Americans themselves felt about their status 38 years after the end of slavery. Prior to the book's publication, most public knowledge of the pain felt by African Americans came from the music of the spirituals, called "Sorrow Songs" by DuBois. But in his essays, DuBois elegantly and eloquently describes the longing of his race: "to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face."
Guiding Question
In The Souls of Black Folk, does W.E.B. DuBois provide an accurate landscape showing the complexity of relationships between white and black citizens or is he simply perpetuating known stereotypes, offering no hope for the future?
Questions
1.
DuBois' life bridged the 19th and 20th centuries.
What are 3 key events of the Civil Rights Movement that shaped his thinking?
2. What
does Dubois mean by the term "color line"?
3. According
to DuBois, what three things do African Americans
need to succeed?
4. How
does Dubois feel about Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and
Booker T. Washington?
5. Where
was DuBois educated? How did this shape his
philosophy of race relations?
6. Where
did Dubois grow up? How did this shape his philosophy?
7. What
does Dubois mean by the term, "double consciousness"?
8.
According to Dubois, what is the veil that shuts African Americans out from the
rest of the world?
9. How
does Dubois feel about Alexander Crummell? Why?
10.
According to Dubois, what are the 3 gifts that black people have brought to
America?
11. Why
were the "sorrow songs" so important to black culture?
12. Do
research and compose a timeline of events and accomplishments that illustrate
the life of DuBois from 1868 to 1963.
Internet Resources
Analysis of Dubois'
Theories (on education, "the veil, "color line", and
"double consciousness")
PES
Yearbook: 1998: Bartley L. McSwine, The Educational
Philosophy of W.E.B. DuBois
The Science of
W.E.B Dubois (biography and his beliefs)
Dubois' opinion on
Self-Help education
W.E.B Dubois' biography
African American Spiritual Songs
Sid Sherill, Teacher, and Margaret
Lee, AP student, collaborated to develop this web
hunt.