African-American history - Essay Example

Many differences exist between finding a political solution as compared to finding a social solution to the vexed problem of color.Racism is a sensitive issue about the color of the skin as it is popularly believed.It,in reality,is also the issue of the heart. Emotions are like the recurring storms and every storm leaves behind it, devastation in different degrees. Is it possible to find an authentic solution, viewed from all angles, to the problem of racism in America? The pages of American history daubed in bloodshed in the name of ethnicity and color asks the crying question.

Can this continent be converted into a haven on this Planet Earth? The answer is simple and straightforward .To achieve that objective, the necessary prerequisites are, eyes full of understanding, hearts full of love and the life that refuses conflicts—enough, these alone can contribute to the permanent solution to the problem. Some aspects of historical injustice against the black community by the American whites are impossible to forget and forgive. Being intensely aware of the undeniable resentment of the blacks, W.E.B.

Du Bois (2005, p.7) writes, “With the other black boys the strife was not fiercely sunny; their youth shrunk into tasteless sycophancy, or into silent hatred of the pale world about them and mocking distrust of everything white; or wasted itself in a bitter cry, why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?” . It deals with the rise of the black middle class with the spread of education amongst them. Du Bois explains how the blacks find it difficult to get assimilated in the mainstream of American society and live a confident life, though constitutionally they are equal to the white race on all counts.

The barrier that separates the two races is several centuries old and is made up of several complicated layers. A black individual has to live the life of a split personality and Du Bois (p.7)writes, “One ever feels his twoness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two un-reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” Du Bois has vividly explains what a tough task it is for the black race to live with double consciousness.

Is this expression the other name for inferiority complex? Perhaps double consciousness would be a better expression than the inferiority complex. It is not possible for the enlightened world that swears by democracy, equality and dignity of the individual to accept the African….4 racial divide. If the divide philosophy is accepted, a dangerous trend is set before the world. The world already has many dividing factors to contend with like the political philosophies of communism vs. capitalism and religious conflicts.

This book is the cornerstone of the literature relating to sociology. The spiritual aspects are evident throughout the contents of the book as Du Bois investigates the inner world of the entire humanity, the souls of men and women. His work, therefore, retains the permanent place in the history of black relations, not only in America, but also the entire world, wherever this problem exists. Mending