Illustration of W. E. B. Du Bois

The Souls of Black Folk

by W. E. B. Du Bois

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Student Question

How does Du Bois explain the end of African Americans' striving?

Quick answer:

According to Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk, the end of an African American's striving is "to be a co-worker in the kingdom of culture" and to be able to use his "best powers." He develops this explanation using words like "power," "latent," and "genius" to underscore the fact that African Americans are already a great resource, but have simply been forced into a state of "weakness."

Expert Answers

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According to Du Bois, the history of the Black man in America has always been one of "strife," largely driven by the impossible dream of merging the two halves of his being—the Black half and the American half—into one coherent whole. This is extremely difficult to achieve without losing anything: the Black man does not want to be more American than he is Black or more Black than he is American.

The end of his striving, then, is "to be a co-worker in the kingdom of culture" and to be able to actually use his "best powers" and latent natural intelligence. The African American can stop striving when he is able to merge the two halves of himself and become a whole being.

Du Bois uses two key sets of phrases and words to emphasize his point here. Firstly, he reiterates the fact that the Black man is possessed of "power" which has, in the past, been "dispersed" and put to one side. Du Bois wants to make clear the fact that the Black man is "mighty" but that his struggle with his doubleness has often made him unable to put his strength to use. Instead, he has been made weak by the need to aim at "double" goals. This second set of phrases, about doubleness and the way in which it tore the Black man in two directions, also serves to emphasize the extreme difficulties encountered by Black people when trying to focus their energy and efforts.

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