Quote:
“The power of the ballot we need in sheer self-defense,-else what shall save us from a second slavery? Freedom too, the long sought, we still seek,-the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire” (Du Bois, 900)
Summary:
This quote from The Souls of Black Folk is Du bois message about what black people need to do in order to be free and be a strong group in society that expresses its opinion and takes part in important decisions, such as voting.
Response:
I think Du bois message is quite different from that of Washington. In his case, Washington said that black men were finally free; however, Du Bois clarifies that black people are still seeking freedom, because their actual condition can’t be called freedom. Du Bois is making a call for all black people to take the charge of their own lives and to fight for their right to vote and be active part of society. At the same time, he wants black people to find their own freedom, not a freedom dependent of white people, where they have to consider themselves thankful of living in a society that offers them something better than the rest of the world, but a freedom that allows them to think and to aspire for more.
At the same time his words are pretty clear, he is saying that black people need to do something about their rights and their freedom in order to avoid a “second slavery”, which means that during his time, black people were still under the control of the white society, which imposed rules and made it hard for them to fit in, because there always had to be a difference between races. Therefore, black people were considered ignorant and were represented as wild creatures in cartoons. Du Bois wants them to fight back and show white people that they are different, and that they have the right to be treated as equals and allowed to think and act by themselves.
“The power of the ballot we need in sheer self-defense,-else what shall save us from a second slavery? Freedom too, the long sought, we still seek,-the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire” (Du Bois, 900)
Summary:
This quote from The Souls of Black Folk is Du bois message about what black people need to do in order to be free and be a strong group in society that expresses its opinion and takes part in important decisions, such as voting.
Response:
I think Du bois message is quite different from that of Washington. In his case, Washington said that black men were finally free; however, Du Bois clarifies that black people are still seeking freedom, because their actual condition can’t be called freedom. Du Bois is making a call for all black people to take the charge of their own lives and to fight for their right to vote and be active part of society. At the same time, he wants black people to find their own freedom, not a freedom dependent of white people, where they have to consider themselves thankful of living in a society that offers them something better than the rest of the world, but a freedom that allows them to think and to aspire for more.
At the same time his words are pretty clear, he is saying that black people need to do something about their rights and their freedom in order to avoid a “second slavery”, which means that during his time, black people were still under the control of the white society, which imposed rules and made it hard for them to fit in, because there always had to be a difference between races. Therefore, black people were considered ignorant and were represented as wild creatures in cartoons. Du Bois wants them to fight back and show white people that they are different, and that they have the right to be treated as equals and allowed to think and act by themselves.
1 comment:
20/20 That phrase "second slavery" is chilling.
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