Of Elephants and the Sheets That Hide Them

In the first chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois’s Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois investigates the ’Negro’s’ journey to identity, the "longing to attain self-conscious manhood”.

Du Bois begins by stating that race, although always present, it is very rarely discussed, with most whites being either unwilling or uncomfortable with addressing the issue head on. The topic of race and the ‘black problem‘, as Du Bois describes it as, becomes a sort of elephant in the room of the nation, both parties willing to skirt around the matter rather than discuss the obvious. He puts his frustrations towards the willingness of his fellow Americans to throw a sheet over this elephant, putting them in his book for the world to see. This not only puts the timid whites on the spot, but it encourages blacks to discuss they’re feelings toward being labeled as ‘problems’.

Du Bois also addresses the restrictions and limitations placed on the behaviors of his fellow blacks, using his example of exchanging holiday cards with a presumably white girl to explain the boundary line ‘negroes’ face when they interact with Caucasians. Dubois feels that he, as well as fellow blacks, live as strangers in their own households, a metaphor for the United States. He spoke of “this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity”, and of a two-ness, of striving to be both American and Negro, and often failing at both in their attempts.

Although the negro was granted liberty, citizenship, and suffrage by the amendments proceeding the Civil War, he claims, they had yet to be seen as an individual by white society, having to constantly bear the burdens of the mistakes of their peers, mistakes that often defined the entire race. The best and brightest of the African Americans may have been able to achieve careers as lawyers and doctors, the prize of unquestionable equality and self-identity was still sadly beyond their grasp, and the bitterness that resulted only increased in time. He expresses his own sentiments towards this double edged sword of dual consciousness quite clearly, using imagery, metaphors, and prior life experiences to drive the message home with his audience.

Du Bois addresses the crimes committed against his people with clarity and composure, never letting any traces of bitterness he may have felt bubble over and onto the pages of his book. He keeps his audience in mind, forever careful not to stray too far from one extreme to the next. He confronts the fallacies that have been uttered against his race logically, disputing each and every one to the very best of his ability. Most importantly, he gives a call for the sheet of bigotry and avoidance to be thrust off that elephant, the plight of the Negro race, and for all to acknowledge the strife of his people for what it truly is.