"Of Our Spiritual Strivings"

In this chapter “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, Du Bois tells of his personal experience and the struggles he had to go through as a black man in America and the mentality of the African American people as a whole, and the effect slavery had on them. He starts off by talking about the “unasked” question of “how does it feel to be a problem?” He is referred to as a problem because he is a black man, and to be viewed as a problem does not bode well with anyone.  He first realized that he was different when one of his classmates refused to take a card from him. He tried to rise above the issue of racism by excelling at his school work but he came to a harsh realization that  it was not going to be solved that easily as he states, “Alas, with the years all this fine contempt began to fade; for the words I longed for, and all their dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine”, and quickly like how it had dawned on him that he was different, it also dawned on him that no matter what kind of education you receive, there are two different worlds. One that you believe you are in, and one that you actually are in, and this became Du Bois’ “double consciousness”.

In his attempt to merge the two worlds together, Du Bois thought it would be best to stay authentic to both because both offered benefits and to forgo one will be to alter who he was. He states “He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world”. Throughout the rest of the chapter, Du Bois encourages African Americans to be themselves through hard work and high education, to conquer the hardship which they have faced and are still facing, and triumph despite the hardship, by being themselves. He also speaks to the White Americans to stop living in fear of the African Americans and embrace what they have to offer by saying “the ideal of fostering and developing the traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order that some day on American soil two world-races may give each to each those characteristics both so sadly lack”.

As an African living in America, I can relate to Du Bois' “double consciousness” because I feel like I have to live a double life. One, when I am with my family and another when I’m out. Coming to America, I was told not to forget who I was as an African. In order not to forget who you are is to remember your culture and what your norms and values are. The unfortunate thing is that because all cultures are different, norms and values differ, leaving one to look less on the other. Therefore as an African in America, I am definitely the minority and whose culture is looked less upon. It is almost impossible not to adapt the norms and values of the culture you live in and forgoing some you already had. To stay authentic to oneself is a daily struggle and you find yourself being two people at the same time. For instance, something as simple as calling someone older by their first name disrespects my African culture but is quite normal in the American culture. Whenever I would put a title before elders’ names I would be referred to as timid or different, so I found myself carrying two caps and wearing whichever one fitted the room I entered. But like Du Bois, I try my best to stay my true self.