The Souls of White Folk

A look at the other side of the veil

“On the pale, white faces which the great billows whirl upward to my tower I see again and again, often and still more often, a writing of human hatred, a deep and passionate hatred, vast by the very vagueness of its expressions”

— W.E.B. Du Bois, 1918

“The colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people will ever know and understand themselves.” — James Weldon Johnson, 1912

This is part 1 of a series on white supremacy and patriarchy. After you read this check out the sequel, Abolition of Whiteness.

Religiosity

In 1903 W.E.B. Du Bois wrote his seminal work The Souls of Black Folk, a sociological analysis of the conditions of black people in the 20th century. He discussed the problematization of blackness and the psychological angst and dissonance that black people experience trying to be both American and Black — a concept he termed double consciousness. Over 100 years later Du Bois’ ideas…