Double Consciousness Essay
The concept of double-consciousness can be addressed from three perspectives. First, there is the perspective of how white America impacts black thought. Secondly, there is the daily racism that African Americans encounter and thirdly the internal conflict that African Americans deal with will trying to decipher how to be black and American.
The first perspective is what DuBois refers to as “seeing oneself through the eyes of others (DuBois, 1903, p. 42). ” This is how African Americans view themselves as through the lens of white America. Many of the stereotypes that white America has perceived African Americans to be such as the mammy and jezebel. African Americans have begun to embrace the negative stereotypes as if that is who they are …show more content…
The third aspect of the theory is the internal conflict of what it means to be African and American. Many African Americans today are still struggling with this internal conflict after a century of Souls being written. Many African Americans have begun to assimilate with white America because they want to be equal to their white counter part. Some have also turned to assimilation as a way of dealing with issues that surrounds race. They assimilate to fit themselves into the mold or version that would be less offensive to white America in terms of employment, the media and institutions of higher learning. Those who assimilate tend to have some drawback from the African American community and have become labeled as ‘uncle toms’ or ‘coons’. While the Africans Americans that chosen not to assimilate have joined the black consciousness movement and have become ‘woke’. Many ‘woke’ African Americans have begun to embrace African culture and being black all together, they have been labeled as angry, ignorant, and anti-white or American. Many racists and “uncle tom” African Americans to believe that the problem in American is not racism but the classifications of race. Those people believe that if the ‘woke’ African Americans would stop labeling every issue that adversely affect the African American
The first perspective is what DuBois refers to as “seeing oneself through the eyes of others (DuBois, 1903, p. 42). ” This is how African Americans view themselves as through the lens of white America. Many of the stereotypes that white America has perceived African Americans to be such as the mammy and jezebel. African Americans have begun to embrace the negative stereotypes as if that is who they are …show more content…
The third aspect of the theory is the internal conflict of what it means to be African and American. Many African Americans today are still struggling with this internal conflict after a century of Souls being written. Many African Americans have begun to assimilate with white America because they want to be equal to their white counter part. Some have also turned to assimilation as a way of dealing with issues that surrounds race. They assimilate to fit themselves into the mold or version that would be less offensive to white America in terms of employment, the media and institutions of higher learning. Those who assimilate tend to have some drawback from the African American community and have become labeled as ‘uncle toms’ or ‘coons’. While the Africans Americans that chosen not to assimilate have joined the black consciousness movement and have become ‘woke’. Many ‘woke’ African Americans have begun to embrace African culture and being black all together, they have been labeled as angry, ignorant, and anti-white or American. Many racists and “uncle tom” African Americans to believe that the problem in American is not racism but the classifications of race. Those people believe that if the ‘woke’ African Americans would stop labeling every issue that adversely affect the African American