What is Double Consciousness?

How can it make you a better person?

In 1903, American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois introduced a concept about the African Americans’ ability to view events from both the African identity and the American identity in his book The Souls of Black Folk.

He called it Double Consciousness.

“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, 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. One ever feels his two-ness, — an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife — this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.”

What Du Bois is saying here is that minorities can view their community through the eyes of other communities as well as their own. 

Reflections on Du Bois' Double Consciousness

W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double consciousness talks about the sense of two-ness that blacks from his day experienced. The concept goes:

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, 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. One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

But in contemporary times, more oppressed groups have been revealed in society, where some people are more than one type of minority. So with this knowledge, shouldn't Du Bois' double consciousness extend to the other feelings of oppression as well?

5 Must Know Concepts of Race and Ethnicity

(W.E.B. Du Bois)

Last week I posted an article on the 6 sociological concepts that I thought everyone should know about. For this article, I decided to do the same -- except with concepts of race and ethnicity. So to keep the introduction short, here they are, the 5 must know concepts of race and ethnicity:

The Hybrid

(This article was originally posted on my other blog, PunchPunchFrontKick.com. However, I recently decided to halt that site, and felt compelled to re-post this article here.)

(The Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai)

Conflicted by two cultures, the Hybrid has to constantly learn what to absorb and what to abandon. What is right? What is wrong? What do I believe in? Confused by these questions as she walks the road of life, the Hybrid never really fits in completely and never sees herself properly represented. "What am I?" the Hybrid often asks. When she travels to her motherland, everyone acts differently from her. When she comes home to North America, she never truly fits into society because she practices "the other" ethnicity. "So, what am I?"

Concepts of Race and Ethnicity: Double Consciousness

(W.E.B. Du Bois)

This week, we continue with the concepts of race and ethnicity. For this article, I will discuss W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double-consciousness. This is one of the most important concepts as it will help you with becoming ecstatic. So take your time to digest it.