The Veil By Booker T. Du Bois

There has always seemed to be a “problem” between African-Americans and Americans. This “problem” is based off a color line presented in the 1800’s, of which separates the black and white races. Du Bois writes, The Souls of Black Folk, based on his life experiences in regards to the differences between African-Americans and Americans. There are two main ideas in the novel; accommodationism and the color line. Du Bois meets Booker T. Washington during a time in his life where he has decided to empower all African-Americans. Du Bois accuses Washington of adapting to the ideals and attitudes of whites. This shows importance because, Washington was one of the most popular black leaders of his time. Du Bois thinks that black Americans were possessing a double conscious, of which their idea are caught between a self conception as an American and a person of African descent. Du Bois also addresses the “Veil” towards to beginning of the novel. The "Veil" is an essential metaphor for the color-line, of which all African-Americans live with. Blacks know they are dissimilar, and that people of a lighter skin see them differently. Du Bois wanted to lift the veil during his lifetime, to help improve the lives of
Later in his life, Du Bois had to go to Georgia by transportation of the Jim Crow Car. The Jim Crow car was created so that blacks did not sit in all-white cars, there were still white people in it while he journeyed through the state. The real problem is not that within the car, but the moral dilemma of having to sit separated from everyone else due to one’s color. This separation proved that even after emancipation black men were still looked upon as inferior. Du Bois states, “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found freedom his promised land” (Du Bois, 11). Emancipation provided little freedom to a group of people that had previously been