Double consciousness is an idea that Du Bois first introduced in his 1903 publication, “The Souls of Black Folk.” In using his idea which describes the personal sensation or feeling as if one's identity has been split into multiple parts, which makes it hard for a person to have a single identity in the society. In this case, the main theme being brought out through his lens of analysis is racism and the suffering of the black African American people. In doing this, he claimed that ever since the people of color have been living in the community who history is repressed and demeaned them making it hard for them to bring together the identity of the black people in different parts of the nation. Double consciousness coerces the African American people to be less in their perception and at the same time to see themselves as weak in the eyes of their masters, the white people. This can be seen in the way he says, “the sense of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others”.
He also asserts that double consciousness brings about conflict among the minority races, especially the black people as they unsuccessfully struggle to unify their identity as black people as well as American citizens. This is evident in “The Souls of Black Folk” where the black artisan conflicted whether to produce goods that carried the right picture of his race or to give products that represented the needs of the entire markets. The artisan believed that if he could make them suit his description, then he would not succeed and by giving the market what they want he succeeds in failing to represent his true identity. This is just an instance of the black peoples fight to reconcile the various parts of their unity.
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