"Of Our Spiritual Strivings" Response

The first chapter of “The Souls of Black Folk”, by W.E.B. DuBois, lets the readers know that he is not ashamed to be an African American. He is quite the contrary, however, with an air of pride shown through his writing. He does not consider his race to be a curse, but a blessing. He alludes to the fact that he does not want to be pitied for not being “privileged” enough to be accepted amid the whites in his society. “I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through” (pg. 44). Within this quote, DuBois shows that he was not ignorant to the fact that he was looked upon differently than the whites in his society. He lets the reader know that he understands the fact that he is will not be treated like a true member of society, but he shows maturity in accepting it. By that point, he did not respond negatively to the fact that he was treated like an outcast in his own society. DuBois metaphorically speaks of the blindfold that whites have put over African American eyes that forbids them from seeing the joy that they could have if they were not of African American race. The shield, in a sense, blockades blacks from society and from being content with their life. Contrarily, DuBois lets the audience know that he was content with the fact that he was different from his white counterparts in society. “The sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination time” (pg. 44). Basically, DuBois enjoyed making whites think twice about him not being adequate. He got happiness from proving them wrong in showing that the judgments that they have for African Americans without knowing them is incorrect.