When I was writing the midterm papers, I noticed a trend closely related to Du Bois’s double consciousness that marked both Du Bois’s studies and dynamics of the black middle class today. We have touched upon double consciousness a number of times in lecture, and the part that stood out most to me of Du Bois’s discussion of the concept was his remark that blacks are pushed to “[measure their] soul[s] by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” In other words, blacks must measure their actions by white standards, which are deeply connected to racism and oppression.
It seems to me that Du Bois inadvertently exhibits signs of double consciousness himself when he urges the black community to reach “the best type of modern European culture” (The Talented Tenth, 3). He is measuring blacks’ way of life by the standard of white culture, clearly buying into some aspects of white hegemony. This stood out to me as a way in which Du Bois was not fully able to move beyond the dominance of white norms and culture – in doing so, he exhibits his own concept of double consciousness.
I also kept coming back to double consciousness when reading contemporary studies of the black middle class. The balance between “whiteness” and “blackness” that Lacy, Pattillo and Frazier highlighted in their studies pointed out to me that in order to reach conventional middle class status, one must, to some degree, adhere to some level of ‘whiteness.’ Either they adopt behaviors that are associated with whites due to the fact that they had been historically unavailable to blacks (ie. middle class jobs, home ownership) or adopt behaviors that are arbitrarily associated with the middle class and were established by dominant white culture (i.e. speaking Standard English at work and school). I spoke a bit about this observation of mine in past response papers and blog posts. It seems natural to me that in adopting these behaviors linked to ‘whiteness,’ one experiences some degree of separation (intentional or not) from ‘blackness’ due to the fact that our society has historically separated the two races. I saw this as connected to double consciousness because Du Bois’s concept highlights the identity crisis that comes with having to both measure oneself by white standards – as the black middle class does almost by necessity of their class status – while being simultaneously oppressed by them – as is evident in Pattillo’s description of social and economic differences between the white and black middle class. Members of the black middle class seem to still experience this dilemma today.
The fact that both Du Bois and modern-day members of the black middle class experience double consciousness indicates that despite numerous markers of progress in black status and life chances, society is still structured in oppressive way that privileges white standards.
Great post Anna!
I think one of the primary questions Du Bois poses with regards to his expression of hat double consciousness entails is this:
” He wouldn’t bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.”
This question of how one can be both black and American is so salient, as the two, even today, seem incongruous. It also raises questions that Avni, Miles and others have challenged in their blog posts in other weeks, and that is, should whiteness be synonymous with the trappings of middle class life? That is, are there ways to disaggregate whiteness from particular privileges in which all people would like an equal share? I don’t propose the answer, but I find that to be a critical question. Similarly, what is it to be American? That seems to be one of the big questions for Du Bois. Blacks were very much American and played a fundamental role in building the nation, yet to be American excluded blacks, and one could argue that it might still be a question today (see the debates about President Obama’s birth certificate, whether or not he is Muslim etc, which all seem to hinge on the notion that to be black is to be not quite American).
Thanks for your comment, Khytie! You bring up really interesting points that are pushing me to think more critically about this topic. I certainly think that whiteness should not be synonymous with middle class life – I think that many elements of middle class life are things that all people strive for and are a marker of general prosperity, at least within the context of a capitalist society. I do think, however, that society is structured in a way historically and socially that oftentimes links the whiteness and middle class life because of its historical association due to exclusive and oppressive access barriers (a number of which still exist today) and because dominant white culture has determined some things about what IS middle class and what is NOT. In other words, because white people have historically monopolized middle class privileges, I feel like there is an ‘aura’ of whiteness around elements of middle class life – one that I believe to be socially constructed. I see what I perceive as modern day double consciousness to stem from the fact that this socially constructed aura exists. I don’t feel like I’ve been very clear about that in this post and in other times when I’ve contemplated this topic, and I’m not even really sure I’m clear about it now.
If my way of thinking is correct, then I am not sure how to ‘disaggregate whiteness from’ middle class privileges because the way I see it is very structural. I think my focus on structure is maybe a flaw in my thinking, as I neglect human agency. This is another thing I will keep in mind while writing in the future, in addition to your comments and questions. Thanks again!