The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Do Bois tells the history of African American life during the time of segregation and racism. It was a morally atrocious period of time in American history, and although the construct of American beliefs during that period of time undermined the African American community, he did not completely reject the “American” in people of colour. He described the double consciousness, the African heritage and culture, and the American side of the African American people. The two consciousness would rip apart each other and cause great contradiction in an African American individual’s mind. This was the case because of the segregation and the complete suppression of the black community. However, Du Bois did say that the African and the American can come together and form one consciousness. This should be what a modern African American individual is. We live in a world where it is socially unacceptable to discriminate, and despite the few who still clings onto the backwardness of racial superiority, society has allowed the unified consciousness to exist. An African American individual can both be proud of their own heritage and accept the American in them.
