Black History Month

The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches

W. E. B. Du Bois

Essays, 1903

The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches is generally considered to be W. E. B. Du Bois's statement against the then-popular ideology of Booker T. Washington. Because it established an influential method of understanding the effects of slavery on modern blacks, The Souls of Black Folk marks a significant development in black thought.

At the time The Souls of Black Folk was published, Washington enjoyed widespread popularity. His autobiography Up from Slavery (1901) proposed several accommodating courses of action for black Americans: endorsing segregation, accepting the denial of voting rights, and undergoing vocational and industrial training instead of pursuing a liberal arts education. Although he condemned slavery, Washington insisted that the institution hurt and benefitted both whites and blacks. He felt that blacks should not be bitter about slavery but should work to succeed in a free America.

In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois agreed that black Americans should develop themselves, but insisted that Washington's understanding of slavery was anti-historical. Washington had argued that the legacy of slavery was inconsequential to hard-working blacks. For Du Bois, however, slavery was an "emasculating" institution whose influence persisted even after emancipation and reconstruction. Racism continued detrimental practices and formed the basis of a continuing slavery.

The Souls of Black Folk is not entirely a political treatise, however. Although it discusses Washington's views, the book also contains other types of writing, including a prose elegy on Du Bois's dead son, a short story, and a discussion of negro spirituals.