W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk: Two Worlds Thesis

Two Worlds Thesis

• The lecture is about W.E.B. DuBois' "The Souls of Black Folk" and his Two Worlds Thesis.

• In his work, DuBois theorized the concept of double consciousness in African Americans.

• This theory suggests that African Americans see themselves through the view of the white world and how they understand themselves.

• This understanding provides a unique perspective on American society that allows African Americans to stand within and outside the society.

"The task for the grove was to use this understanding to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American problem enticing the way forward and speaking in the language and meaning of the era's Du Bois devised his two worlds thesis..."

Double Consciousness

• Dubois theorized double consciousness as a way to describe the African American experience.

• African Americans conceptualize themselves in the eyes of white people, which leads to a unique perspective on American society.

• For Dubois, the task was to use the understanding of double consciousness to make it possible for African Americans to be both a Negro and an American.

"For Dubois, the task was to use this understanding to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American problem..."

The Veil

• The veil concept describes the African American experience as different and separate from the white American experience.

• Dubois used the veil to describe multiple things, including the physical difference from whiteness, the lack of clarity that white people have when seeing African Americans, and the clarity African Americans have when seeing themselves outside of what white America prescribes for them.

• The veil concept gives a name to what many African Americans feel, the sense of being different from white Americans.

"Dubois primarily refers to three things, first the veil suggests to the literal darker skin of black people which is a physical demarcation of difference from whiteness, second the veil suggests white people's lack of clarity to see black people as true Americans and lastly the veil refers to black people's like clarity to see themselves outside